A witch comes to Sunnydale
by Graq the Wild Child 2
Summary: AU Season 2. On her first night back from summer vacation Buffy accidentally reveals her secret identity to a new girl in town. But the new girl has more than a few secrets of her own, which could make the gang's junior year even more weird and dangerous. Tara/Willow romance, Tara/Scoobies friendships.
1. First impressions

Author's Notes: Welcome to my second Willow and Tara story. This is a romance, but a slow one, since the girls are both still shy teens. This is also a story about mothers and daughters, so expect to see lot of the Summers and the Maclays. Obviously some details of Tara's childhood will be inventions of my own deranged mind, but hopefully they'll be believable. There will be discussion of real world demons like cancer and domestic abuse, so be warned. My outline has this lasting twenty six chapters, but it could end up longer or shorter depending on how things go. This first chapter has a lot internal monologue and not much dialogue, but that's just to get things set up; not all of them will be like this. Reviews and suggestions are always much appreciated!

Chapter One: First impressions

Buffy made her way down the dark streets she'd come to know so well over the previous year. The familiarity offered little comfort. A voice in the back of her head kept whispering to her, _This is where you fell. This is where you died. You're not safe. You were never safe. _She wasn't sure what had given her the itch to go out tonight. Partly she hoped she would run into Willow and Xander; partly she hoped she would run into trouble and could feel safer by the killing of it.

Her second wish was granted as she turned down the street to pass by the Espresso Pump. Under a malfunctioning streetlight a few stores down from the coffee shop was a high school age girl with dark blonde hair, caught in a pincer attack between two vampires. She looked terrified and was holding up her right hand as if begging them to stop. No screams or pleas were coming from her mouth though; in fact she seemed to be struggling to get out any sound at all. The vampires seemed amused at the gesture and were chuckling as they licked their lips hungrily. Buffy sighed and pulled a stake out of her jacket.

Tara cursed silently. She was trying to chant a spell at her attackers but her tongue wouldn't cooperate. She knew getting ambushed was her own fault for going out so late, but it had been the first time since her family moved to Sunnydale that she'd had a chance to get out of the house on her own. It had been just her luck that the elusive "Magic Box" was already closed for the evening when she got there. Naturally the people here would close shop early if things like these leonine faced creatures roamed after dark. Tara figured it must have something to do with the dismal energy she and her mother could feel permeating the entire town. If she hadn't felt the hostility coming from the fiends a few moments before they ambushed her she wouldn't have even have had time to attempt a spell. Now her speech impediment was going to get her killed without even a fighting chance at stopping them.

She took a deep breath to try and bull her way through the incantation when the beast before her went stock still, a point of wood jutting through the center of its chest. His fang filled mouth curled back in a howl of pain as his form split apart into a cloud of dust framing his skeleton for a split second before it, too, dissolved. Tara was mid-inhale as it happened and her throat filled with the ashy tasting dust. She coughed helplessly, her second attacker turning his attention to the figure that had dispatched the first. Tara was surprised at her rescuer's appearance. She was a small, thin blonde girl no older than her. She stood holding the wooden stake she had just used in a battle stance, staring down the remaining assailant. They began to spar as Tara stepped backwards to get out of the way, hacking out what dust she could. Her mystery savior was dressed very oddly for someone so obviously used to combat, with a black jacket, white blouse, and short pale blue skirt with little floral patterns. The girl seemed able to kick in the skirt well enough though, smashing her less than completely practical shoes into her opponent. Curiosity overcame the witch as she finally caught her breath and she looked at the girl with her special gift, the gift of reading auras.

The girl's energy was frightening, raw and powerful. In Tara's mind people's spirits always resonated with aspects of nature. This girl was like a mountain lion on the hunt. Her aura burned hotter than a fire, and her life force seemed too great to be contained in one body, let alone one that for all appearances was just another pretty blonde valley girl. There was just the slightest hint of darkness at the girl's center, a kind of gnawing dread. Who on Earth was she?

Tara didn't have time to ask because another one of the fanged creatures was coming out the alley beside them. He made his way to lunge at the curiously strong blonde's undefended back and the Wiccan knew she had to find her voice.

"Excaecatio lux!"

Blue sparks of light shot from her fingertips at the beast's yellow eyes. It snarled and batted at its face uselessly, giving the other girl time to react.

Buffy looked behind her to see the newly arrived vamping swatting at tiny blue fireworks. She drove her stake into his exposed chest and was caught around the neck from behind by the one she had just kicked down. The other girl stared at her, hand out again, her brow furrowed in concentration. _Weird chanting and hand gestures, spontaneous light shows, _the Slayer thought as she gripped the vampire's arm, _So tonight's citizen in peril is a witch. Only in Sunnydale. _Before any more chanting could commence Buffy shifted her weight to throw the vamp over her shoulder and to the ground. He slammed down hard and she followed up with a punch to his head from her free hand before finishing with the stake. The Slayer brushed off the debris of her fight as she stood to look at the girl she had just rescued. She didn't seem to have any neck wounds, but it was dark and she could be losing blood from someplace else.

"Are you hurt?" Buffy asked as the girl started to cough again.

"I'm f-f-fine." She looked at the dissipating clouds of vamp dust. "Those men… they were v-vampires, weren't they?"

Buffy's eyebrows raised a little. She supposed it wasn't too surprising that one thing that went bump in the night would recognize another, not that the whole stake-to-heart and fangly face combo wasn't a dead giveaway to their vampireness. _A witch with a stutter, ouch. That has to be annoying when she wants to say a spell. _And that explained why she felt safe at night on her own. Thugs and rapists wouldn't be much of a threat to someone who could blind them with pretty lights or maybe turn the thug's hands into pig trotters or something. Of course Sunnydale had much worse monsters prowling the night than simple thugapists.

"Yep." She said a bit brusquely. "I'm guessing you're new in town, huh?"

The teen witch nodded nervously, her arms moving to hug herself around the chest.

"Well, a good rule of thumb here is never travel alone after sunset." Buffy considered that a moment. _Except that I'm on my own and telling her that. _"Unless…"

"You have su-super strength?" The girl finished for her tentatively.

"Pretty much." Her eyes widened as she realized what she had just done. Sure other people had seen her slaying, but most people she saved didn't stay afterwards for a nice chat with her. Ostensibly she was supposed to be keeping up a secret identity, but really, how well could Giles expect her to do that on the literal Mouth of Hell? Well, it wasn't like she was giving out her name and social security number. "About that. It's probably for the best if you don't go telling people about what you saw tonight…"

The girl shook her head. "I w-won't." She turned her blue eyes to the sidewalk for minute, her hair falling to cover her face. The witch looked back up at her hesitantly, taking a few breaths before asking. "Y-you won't tell anyone about… me, will you?"

"Your secret's safe with me." She agreed. The other girl's mouth almost seemed to relax into a near smile before she got a startled look like she was remembering something vitally important.

"Th-thank you for saving me. I don't know… I don't think I would have made it."

_You wouldn't have._ The Slayer thought grimly. They both turned to continue to their separate destinations, Buffy stopping as they passed each other. For some reason she felt bad about leaving this girl to make her way in the night alone. She held out her stake to offer it to the taller girl.

"Keep this with you."

The witch murmured her gratitude and clutched it close as she made her way down the street. Buffy sighed again as she resumed her hunt for her friends. _There's no place like home. _

…

Tara crept into her house with the greatest of care, years of practice at keeping her movements silent serving her well even in a new building. Once she was in her room she opened the loosened floorboards over her private stash of books and artifacts, gently adding the wooden stake to the collection. She was grateful for it, and would be sure to research spells to help fend off any vampires she might meet in the future. But tonight her research had a different aim. She had to figure out just what that mystery girl was. With the floorboards in place she changed into a nightgown and went to the bathroom. Nothing suspicious about being caught like that. It took several brushings and many glasses of water before her mouth and throat felt clean. She returned to her bedroom and fetched her flashlight and one of the books on the paranormal she had acquired on the sly a few years ago. Tara had been drawn to the title, _People of Extraordinary Power, _but had been disappointed to find that it held little information on witches or people cursed with demon blood. She got under the covers of her bed and flipped through the chapters, passing entries like "Bio-electric generation", "Psychics: Precognitive type, Telekinetic type, Telepathic type", before coming to "Slayer, the". It began with a brief summary of their powers (super-strength, stamina, reflexes, enhanced healing and senses, and unconfirmed allegations of prophetic dreams) that fit the mystery fighter to a tee. The chapter went on to quote an excerpt from the legends about them.

"_Into every generation, a Slayer is born. One girl, in all the world, a chosen one. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil. Throughout the ages she has always been there. Forsaking friends and family. Protecting the innocent. Facing the darkness, wherever she might find it. This is the way it has always been, and must always be. In the face of such evil, the life of one girl is such a small price to pay." _

Tara frowned. Forsaking friends and family sounded like a poor trade off for super powers. She continued reading, already feeling somewhat sorry for the girl who had saved her life. The book was sorely lacking in specifics on these vampire hunters. Apparently the secrets of the Slayers were hard to come by because they were watched over by an ancient and secretive organization that took it upon themselves to train each girl who inherited the Slayer's powers. The book had even less details on them. There was a table listing known Slayers from history, and Tara was disturbed to notice very few of them had lived past their teens. Maybe the life of one girl was a small price to pay to protect the entire world, but this was girl after girl in an endless chain. The list ended with a black and white photo of a woman with a short afro wearing a long leather duster.

_Nikki Wood, most recent known Slayer. Killed in New York by the vampire William the Bloody. _

_People of Extraordinary Power _had been published in 1980, so there had probably been several Slayers between Nikki and the short blonde warrior she had met. Her heart went out in sympathy to her. That girl was doomed to a short violent life, and likely wouldn't live to see age twenty. Tara wasn't sure if she thought that was better or worse than her own situation. In many ways her own life would be over when her twentieth birthday arrived, but at least she had a good shot at living past it.

…

It was strange to love and hate one thing so passionately, Tara thought as she entered Sunnydale High for her first day at her new school. The love had come first. At her tiny elementary school in her family's hometown of Woodville, Alabama, school meant a fascinating variety of new things to learn and books to read. Being around other children was a bit awkward with her shyness, but for the most part she got along well with her classmates. Granted, time at school meant time away from her mother and the protection she provided, but that in turn meant time away from her father, the main thing she needed to be protected from.

The hatred came later when she started going to middle school in the larger city of Huntsville. The seeds of her bad middle school experience were sown during her brother Donny's first year there. Their father had taken him aside one night and began to teach him how to control their mother and Tara's 'problem'. For that first year it had only been an issue at home, but when she joined Donny at junior high she had no place to run. Her brother acted as Donald Senior's eyes, ears, and in the darkest times, hands at school. In addition Donny had been cultivating his own social image, joining sports teams and earning a reputation as a tough guy. His oddball sister gave him someone to harass and gain social status by othering. She went from being "Tara, that quiet nature loving girl," to "Donny Maclay's weirdo sister". With puberty came an increase in her power, and things only got worse. Any hint of spell casting in public and Donny was there to make sure that the family secret stayed an old Woodville legend rather than an active rumor.

Most people were either too put off by her weirdness or too scared of Donny to approach her, but there were a few kids who found her interest in the occult cool. They would get together to at each other's houses to engage in the adolescent equivalent of witchcraft. Of course they could only meet at Tara's house during the rare times when both her father and brother were away. The others expressed a passing interest when she tried to share with them what her mother had taught her about the Earth and balance, but mostly they seemed eager to piss off their conservative parents. Tarot cards were a favorite, as was the Ouija board. Tara didn't have the heart to tell them that she doubted Parker Brothers had found a way to mass produce a conduit to the underworld, so she humored them.

The summer after graduation the group split apart and didn't bother getting back together when freshman year started. Tara's kind-of-girlfriend Emma wasn't even in the same school as them anymore, but enough people from junior high knew about her relationship to start up the rumors. Now she was "that creepy Satanist dyke", and not even her former friends would defend her from the disgusted looks and jeers that followed her down the hallways each day. She found the best way to survive was to sit as far in the back of class as she could, look straight ahead or straight down, and not speak a word. Eventually she got good enough at hiding that she was almost invisible, an improvement over being a hated freak.

These past few months Donny and her father had at least been distracted by her mother's illness to pay her little attention. If they stayed preoccupied she might even have a chance at a somewhat mellow school year. She supposed a new school was a chance to reinvent herself, but she couldn't think what she should reinvent herself into. Someone artsy? Nerdy? Maybe even try for a bit of California flavor and go hippie? It was a stupid idea. She was no great actor, and the best way to keep anyone at Sunnydale High from seeing the things that had made her an outcast in Alabama was to hide. Tara knew just the place, and as soon as she had a break she was on her way there.

Sunnydale's library was a completely different beast from Huntsville's. Where Huntsville has gone to great lengths to appear modern and high tech this place seemed determined to be as old-fashioned and imposing as possible. It was saturated in the smell of paper and binding, from the chemical bitterness of newly printed textbooks to the almost spicy must of old classics. The massive bookshelves were apparently doing their jobs of warding off students, as there was no one Tara could see browsing the stacks. When she stepped further into the room her stomach gave a lurch. Something about the air was making her queasy. No, not the air. The energy. The sinister vibes that hummed like background radiation all over town became concentrated into a low growling here. It was scary and thrilling at the same time. Her mother had taken her to places of power before, like the hidden glens in the forest resonating with the vigor of life or old civil war battle sites steeped in the shadows of death and violence. All of them paled before the strength of this power. If only it weren't tainted…

…

_Some weeks ago, a few days after the Maclays moved into Sunnydale._

"_We could use it, if we were careful. Why don't you want to?"_

"_You know why Tara. Why use magic…"_

"'… _When you can do something naturally?' I know."_

_Tara and her mother Eileen were sitting on a park bench near one of Sunnydale's patches of woods. The town was coursing with its own mystic energy, and they could both feel it mixing with the natural energy of the Earth. Eileen's power had been fading with her health as the cancer progressed, but Tara felt a glimmer of hope that being around this much magick could restore her mother's strength. _

"_But you've used healing spells before. Why not now?"_

_The older witch took in a deep breath, leaning her head back to let the sunlight hit all of her gaunt face._

"_A healing spell works best when it enhances the body's own natural healing. Cancer is a corruption, a mutation of the flesh. Those mutated cells could just as easily end up growing faster after a casting." She turned to look at her daughter, placing her thin hand over hers in reassurance. "We'll fight them with medicine. It's far safer than using dark energy like this."_

_Tara nodded and squeezed her mother's hand. She was being so strong throughout all this pain, so she had to do her best in return. Tara just wished she hadn't spent so much time reading the statistics on ovarian cancer treatment outcomes and survival rates. Magic at least was something she could control, that she could be useful to her mother with. Leaving it up to doctors put it out of her hands, and that scared her more than anything. _

…

For now the pull of the books was greater than the queasiness, so Tara made her way up the steps into the stacks. Up close she could see the library was more than just old-fashioned, it was stuffed with impossibly old books. She went to the history section and pulled out the oldest volume she could find. It looked hundreds of years old, and she opened it as gently as she could.

Rupert Giles had to clean his glasses even more vigorously than usual. This had to be some kind of an anomaly: a student other than Willow was actually voluntarily reading a book. When students needed help with research and school assignments they normally headed for the computer lab. While the disinterest Sunnydale's teenagers showed in the library made his job as Watcher easier, he couldn't say he wasn't disappointed that he had no one to help with more mundane learning. He slowly walked over to the girl, and was stunned again when he saw what book she had chosen. It was a history of Rome, nothing unusual. But it was written in Latin, and she was still able to read it.

"May I help you with something?" He asked softly, not wanting to startle a fellow bibliophile.

Tara jumped a bit at the unexpected greeting and nervously looked from the book to the speaker. The man had a severe appearance, but was looking at her kindly. She shut the book, realizing she'd been reading in Latin. In public. So much for not showing off her weirdness. At least it was just the school librarian. There was something trustworthy about librarians.

"I-I was just looking around." He smiled at her, and she felt a wave of relief. "This school has a really great collection."

"I try. So you um, can read in Latin?" Giles asked, indicating the text Tara held.

"Yes. My mom t-taught me." Hopefully that didn't seem too odd to him. At least she hadn't been reading ancient Greek; that would have been a harder fluency to explain.

"That's quite impressive." He moved to another shelf, looking for a particular volume. "We have a few other books in Latin that aren't quite as dry." Giles pulled out a tall, slim black book that just had the name Ovid on the side and handed it to her.

"Wow." She said in awe as she ran her fingers over the leather cover. "_Metamorphoses_? I've n-never seen a copy in the original Latin." It had always been one of her favorite renditions of Greek and Roman mythology, and she was amazed that a high school would have it any language.

"Well, what Latin they could put together from the surviving manuscripts. This is a rather recent printing though, no need be as delicate as our other Latin pieces." For a moment he thought back to the Council's library in England. They had a few pieces of Ovid's original writings, as well as few volumes of the epic poem that had never been known to the larger world.

"May I…?" Tara asked, putting the history book back in favor of the newer one.

"Certainly." The Watcher said warmly as he led her to the counter to check it out.

…

For the first two days of school Tara had managed to be one of the first people into each classroom, securing herself a safe spot in the back. A few kids had thrown her curious glances, but for the most part her practiced invisibility was working like a charm. Wednesday she arrived at school later than usual and had to brave the gauntlet of a populated classroom. The first empty seat she saw was closer to the front than she would have liked. She glanced around and her eyes caught the gaze of the person sitting beside the empty desk. And for a second she was lost.

Wide green eyes met hers and she felt a thrill shoot up and back down her spine. It was almost like a spell. A tingle remained in her nerves as she took in the rest of the girl's appearance. She was dressed in blue, more modestly than most of the girls Tara had seen at Sunnydale High. Her long red hair was pulled back into twin ponytails tucked behind her ears, which were adorned with cute star shaped earrings. The girl's skin was pale and sparsely freckled, showing little wear from the southern California sun. She smiled at Tara and her brain snapped her out of her haze.

_Congratulations, you've gone from not being able to make eye contact to staring at people. Great progress, pervert. _She smiled back shyly and found a different seat against the back wall, her heart pounding.

Willow looked up from her desk as she heard another person come through the classroom door. Again it wasn't Buffy. It was a pretty girl with honey-brown hair she vaguely remembered seeing out of the corner of her eyes the first two days of classes. She was dressed a bit too warmly for the season and was glancing around nervously. The girl noticed Willow looking at her and the redhead smiled, hoping it would calm her but not encourage her to take the seat they were saving for Buffy. For some reason she felt a little regret at that idea. Maybe she was still reluctant to let Buffy sit with them after she'd been such a bitca the past few days. Or maybe it was the way this girl's watery blue eyes made her look so sad and lost, or the weird prickle Willow could feel in the tips of her fingers when the girl smiled back. It was an unusual smile, beginning with the left side of her face and slowly reaching the right. Before Willow could puzzle out the prickling sensation Buffy entered the room.

Xander saw Willow looking up from the notebook they were doodling on and followed his friend's gaze to the room's entrance. He recognized the curvy blonde as a new student sharing some classes with them. She seemed uncomfortable. Willow was smiling at her, so he smiled too, but the girl didn't seem to notice. He shrugged, only slightly disappointed. Buffy had just come in and thoughts of the new girl were forgotten. Xander looked away from the Slayer, waiting to see what she would do.

Tara found her eyes flickering back to watch the redheaded girl as the seat beside her was occupied. To her surprise it was her mystery savior, seeming hesitant. There was a dark haired boy turned around in his seat to face the two girls, and the three chatted about the teacher. She wondered if they knew who their friend was. Tara was glad that the Slayer had friends; the legend had made it sound like being the Slayer was a sentence to loneliness and isolation. She didn't mean to eavesdrop on the trio's conversation, but she couldn't help overhearing when the boy said something startling.

"Well we could grind our enemies into talcum powder with a sledgehammer but, gosh, we did that last night."

It sounded like a joke, and no one else seemed to find the statement odd. Still, given the circumstances it could be completely true. _Did _they know who she was? Were they different too? Tara took a peek at the boy's aura. It was temperate and made of slowly moving woody browns and bright yellows. It had an almost fuzzy texture, like a bumblebee or a young dog. There was nothing supernatural to it though. Next she looked, a bit embarrassedly, at the crimson haired girl. She had to stop herself from gasping. The girl's spirit was almost blinding in its brightness, and it moved about as if in a powerful wind that oscillated between hot and cold. The girl herself was pretty, adorable even, but her aura was the most beautiful thing Tara ever seen. It had all the colors of autumn leaves, but it hummed with the vigor of rapidly growing life, like a particularly ambitious tree. There was magic in this girl, a force she had only seen equaled in her mother at the peak of her health. It felt untapped though, like a buried gemstone encased untouched in rock. Tara had always taken for granted that she would never meet a real witch outside of her family. Now she couldn't help but hope that she'd get a chance to know this girl, to see if she knew how special she was. And on top of that, this un-awoken witch was friends with the Slayer. That was almost too big a coincidence to be random. Maybe something about this town brought people of power together.

…

By the time class ended Buffy was happy for the first time since she'd returned to Sunnydale. The Master was gone for good, her friends were safe, and best of all they had forgiven her for treating them like dirt and nearly getting them killed. Buffy saw an unexpected person move across her path as she got up from her seat. It was the witch from three nights ago, book bag slung over one shoulder and head bowed. She watched the taller girl leave and had that rare but welcome feeling of pride in being the Slayer. Without Buffy, the other blonde wouldn't have lived to see junior year. _Then again, if she'd died she wouldn't have to endure in the empire of Snyder. Maybe I didn't do her such a big favor after all, _she thought with a little smirk. This was what being the chosen one was all about: helping people.


	2. The Bat Signal

Author's Notes: Wow, I'm overwhelmed to have gotten so many responses so quickly! I'll try to update sooner in the future, but each chapter will probably take a week to two weeks to complete. By popular demand, the walls of text will be broken into easier to digest chunks. Thank you all for reading and for the words of encouragement.

Agilulfa: The story will mostly be Tara's POV (and Willow's obviously). But occasionally I will dip into the heads of Buffy, Xander, Giles, Cordelia, Angel and Oz. I'd like to peek into Joyce, Jenny and Kendra's perspectives but I think eight is more than enough people to play with. I'm super excited to finally get to write scenes with Cordelia that aren't dream sequences or phone conversations. I've always had a soft spot for bitchy popular girls who become genuinely good people over time. Dawn will also be present, though not until next chapter when we get into some Summers family drama.

I'm a little unsure of this chapter; it's not very exciting as first face to face meetings between Willow and Tara go. But I consider it a bridge to the more plot heavy parts.

Chapter Two: The Bat Signal

It happened every time she walked down this hallway. She would feel a pair of eyes follow her, but when she turned her head there was no one there. Tara was getting fed up with it and so decided today would be day she'd put a stop to it. She stood in the middle of the hall to try and sense the direction the gaze was coming from. The only other people in the hallway were a gaggle of cheerleaders congregated around their evident leader gossiping. None of them were looking her way; she was beneath their notice, as was to be expected.

She traced the sensation of being watched to a trophy case. Tara stepped closer, trying to feel out the source. There was a tiny corona of dark energy coming from a cheerleading trophy. It was like something was trapped, reaching out for a liberator. Before the witch could inspect the emanation further she felt a strong, heavy hand grip her shoulder.

"Hey little sis." She shuddered at the sound of his voice, willing herself not make any sudden moves. Donny followed her gaze to the trophy. "What, you're not thinking of joining the cheerleading squad? You?"

Cordelia Chase was drifting off, barely aware of what her cohorts were going on about. Something about the football game in two weeks, or one of the football players. Whichever it was, these conversations were getting repetitive.

Her boredom caused her to notice a boy and girl talking in front of the trophy case. She did a quick mental inventory on them. They were the Maclays, a brother and sister a year apart who'd just moved here from Alabama. Their statuses in the social hierarchy were yet to be determined, but the brother (Danny?), was expected to get a spot on the wrestling team.

She sized them up. The girl had been looking at a cheerleading trophy. She seemed good looking and fit enough for the part, but her conservative fashion sense and the way she curled into herself and avoided her brother's eye contact as he spoke to her seemed to indicate she didn't have the attitude. _The guy could be cute if he lost the beard, but ugh, total hayseed. And does he not get that he's making her uncomfortable? Redneck creeper._

Donny made a bit of small talk about the Sunnydale sports teams for show before he leaned in closer and got to his real reason for talking to her. "I've been hearing weird stories about this place. People eatin' live pigs, bodies falling out of lockers, girls losing their faces. You're gonna be careful and not end up in one of those rumors, aren't you?"

Tara tensed, wanting so badly to stand up to him. But more people were moving through the hallway now, and the last thing she wanted to do was make a scene. "I'll be c-careful."

"Good girl." He said patting her shoulder and taking his leave. She let out a heavy exhale and took one more glance at the mysterious trophy. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be doing much besides looking at her. Tara felt a second gaze on her, oddly similar to the first one and whipped her head around. She just caught sight of a girl with shoulder length dirty blonde hair walking away.

…

Monday was a cheerier day. She had finished up the small stack of books she'd checked out during her first week so had an excuse to go see Mr. Giles again. The prospect of chatting with him made the breaks between classes worth looking forward to. Tara called to him as she pushed open the double doors of the library.

"Mr. Giles? I'm done with…" She stopped mid-sentence.

Today it seemed, the librarian wasn't alone. Another student was talking with him across the counter, a miniature tower of texts placed between them. It was that redheaded girl. Suddenly she felt like an intruder. Despite her desire to get to know her Tara had yet to even learn her name. Every time their eyes met she had to deal with the tingling. She didn't quite have the bravery to greet her yet.

"… th-these books…" Tara trailed off quietly.

Giles seemed a tad flustered himself and came around the counter to her.

"Ah, yes. Let me help you with those." He offered taking the books from her.

"I-I didn't mean to interrupt if you're busy." She said guiltily.

"Not at all." He reassured her as he went to check the books back into the system. She thanked him, curling her now free arms around herself out of habit.

"I was just picking up some research materials for my science fair project." The redhead chimed in. "Didn't mean to monopolize our resident Englishman."

Tara looked over the titles in the girl's book stack to avoid getting lost in those emerald eyes again. _"Life cycles of dipterans", "Effects of electro-magnetic spectrum exposure on insect cytology and morphology", "Scientific method and invertebrate animal husbandry"… Wow, do they really take the science fair that seriously here? _

"Oh. I-I thought that sign up for the fair w-wasn't for another two weeks." She said worriedly. "Should I be getting s-started?"

"What?" Willow realized she'd inadvertently made the girl nervous. She hoped she wasn't the cause of that stutter; it was kind of cute but she hated to think she was making her uncomfortable. Willow knew how hard a big school could be on the shy and bookish. "Oh don't worry about that. All the sane people haven't started their projects yet. I'm just trying to keep ahead. Bit of an over-achieving nerd if you couldn't tell." She said gesturing to the book stack.

Tara felt a small smile threaten to break out on her face. This girl had a high-paced breathy way of speaking that she'd never encountered before. She could tell that the girl was making an effort to soothe her with self-effacing humor, so she mustered her courage to try and keep the conversation going. _Just try not to sound like an idiot. She's clearly the brainy type. _

"Wow. I mean, I haven't even picked out a topic yet." She glanced around, and saw that Mr. Giles had gone into the stacks to reshelf her returns, leaving them more or less alone for the moment. "You probably c-come in here a lot, don't you?"

Willow nodded. "You too." She decided to see if she could get the girl to tilt her head up so her face wouldn't be so hidden. "I'm surprised we haven't bumped into each other in here before. I've seen you in class. You're new this year, right?" Her smile broadened as the blonde lifted her face to meet hers. The prickling from earlier returned when she saw the blue of the girl's eyes. "What's your name?"

"Tara."

"I'm Willow." Tara giggled silently. "What?" She was a little self conscious about her name, but this girl didn't seem the type to poke fun.

"Willow, that was the name of the m-main street through our old town." _Ooh, your town had a street named after a tree. _That's_ unusual. Say something else before you bore her to death. _"I-I think it's pretty." A spike of panic shot through her. _Not that, stupid! _

_She's sweet. _"Has your family been here long? Where did you move here from?" Willow didn't know what was causing the prickling, but she figured it was a sign she should befriend this girl.

Tara's panic was swiftly replaced with relief that the redhead didn't seem bothered by her unintentional forwardness. Even if Willow's questions were just her being polite to someone new, she was grateful that she wanted to talk to her. "A l-little over month ago. We're from Alabama."

"I'm a lifelong Sunnydale girl myself."

Giles had finished putting the books back and was bringing a copy of _Walden _for Tara. He stopped and watched the two students for minute. They had gotten absorbed in discussing the differences between Alabama and California and he was loathe to interrupt. The Watcher simply went to stamp the book's card while the girls talked.

Their conversation moved onto the merits of beaches versus forests, favorite books, and favorite school topics before the bell rang. Tara almost blushed realizing she'd forgotten the reason she'd come to the library in the first place. "Th-thank you Mr. Giles." She said taking her book from the counter. She looked back to Willow, who was loading up her considerable haul. "I-I'd better get to class."

"Can I see you again later?" Willow asked hopefully. "If we run into each other again? We can talk some more about the Transcendentalists?"

"Sure."

…

The girls saw each other again several times the next day, but didn't get a chance to chat. Willow was occupied by her friends during their breaks and Tara was still too shy sit closer to them in class. Finally they met up during last period in a class they shared but Buffy and Xander didn't. Willow saw Tara come in and motioned for her to sit beside her.

They turned out to be the only juniors in the college prep class besides a boy named Chris Epps. It actually felt more comfortable for Tara being around other students who'd chosen to be in a class rather than taking it as a requirement. She surprised herself by answering a question for the first time since she'd started at Sunnydale. Maybe she was drawing some courage from the braver redhead.

Willow was surprised too. Without really thinking about it she walked beside Tara as they left. They chatted about their class schedules and what led to them choosing the college prep course, ending up in front of Willow's locker.

"That's the first time I've heard you speak up in class." Willow commented as she sorted through her textbooks.

"Y-yeah, I kind of l-like to keep quiet." Tara said brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Sometimes if I try hard enough I feel like I can t-turn invisible." She was almost giggling but stopped when Willow's eyes widened in horror.

"Don't!" It was almost a shout and a few kids turned to look at them. Tara pulled her textbooks in front of her chest like a shield, frightened by the sudden attention. "Don't- feel like you have to be invisible." Willow tried to cover up her outburst. She still didn't take her eyes off the blonde, scared she'd vanish if she looked away. "People here aren't that bad."

"O-okay." The girls glanced around nervously, the momentary interest they had held for their fellow students already fading. They both exhaled in relief. Tara wasn't sure what to make of Willow's exclamation. She wouldn't go so far as to say the girl was… insane, but she was definitely quirky.

She didn't want to press her luck, but so far Willow had been nothing but pleased with her company. The witch knew it would be a long time before they could get close enough for her to ask if the girl knew about magic, but for now she could try and build a friendship talking about other things.

"Would you w-want to go to the library? We could study or, talk some more…"

Willow almost agreed before remembering Buffy and Giles were going to be training there that afternoon. "Um, this afternoon isn't great. There's a kind of, private study group meeting at the library. It's a group thing, and I'm a part of it, the group that is." She could see Tara's posture sinking, trying to hide disappointment. "But tomorrow it's free. I mean, I'm free, because no group. If that works for you?"

She agreed and they parted ways. Tara wasn't sure what to make of her new acquaintance. Willow seemed interested in getting to know her, but kept saying odd things like the "Don't!" and the babble about the study group. Even so, she couldn't help but enjoy having someone to talk to after so long on her own. Not to mention that the impression of Willow's aura had yet to fade from her mind's eye. It was only fitting that someone with such a powerful spirit would have a larger than life personality.

…

The girls ran into each other in front of the soda machine during break. Several minutes after they'd gotten past their greetings they were joined at their table by the dark haired boy Willow always sat with.

"Hello ladies. Who do I have the pleasure of bugging today?" He asked as he leaned his arms on the back of one of the chairs.

"Xander." Willow said looking up at him. "Xander, this is Tara. Tara, Xander."

"Hi." She said with a little raise of her hand that she hoped would pass for a wave. She realized as she gestured that her fingers were barely even poking out of the ends of her sleeves. Tara had decided from the start the benefits of long sleeves outweighed the downside of looking weird for dressing too warmly. She swallowed a little, hoping this first meeting with Willow's friend wouldn't go badly.

For her part Willow was watching Xander watching Tara as he took his seat. For the umpteenth time she sighed as she watched her lifelong crush check out another girl. He wasn't ogling, but his gaze was appreciative. She could understand why; Tara was much better endowed than her and had womanly hips rather than Willow's practically boyish frame.

"Tara? So you're the one who's stealing Will from us this afternoon!" He declared with an accusatory finger point. "We were going to pull off a daring jewel heist and now we're a man down."

Tara grinned a tiny bit, nerves somewhat calmed by the boy's boisterous humor. "Oh. W-what was the plan?"

"I wouldn't know," Xander said holding up his hands helplessly. "Willow's the evil mastermind. Buffy's the muscle, and I'm the get-away man."

"Because you h-have a car?" She asked, playing along with his game.

"Well no, not as such." He admitted. "But I'm the best at getting away."

"Definitely. He's won ribbons." Willow said with a nod. "You uh, want to join us? We were going to work on our science fair projects, maybe talk about Robert Frost."

"As wild and fun as that sounds, I think I'll pass." Tara felt her shoulders lower in relief. She wasn't quite ready to spend a whole afternoon with someone as outgoing as Xander seemed to be. "I'm just gonna do something simple, like, the effects of gasoline on fire."

"I'm not sure how you'd set up the display for that." The younger girl was glad to see Tara was still smiling.

"I could set it up in Snyder's office." He offered as the bell rang. Xander scooted his chair back and the girls followed suit in a gentler fashion. "Good to meet you Tara."

"It was nice meeting y-you too, Xander."

The three went to class together, Willow and Xander bantering with obvious comfort.

…

Over the course of the day Tara noticed Willow's eyes lingering on Xander when she thought he wasn't looking. There was something there, but she didn't want to assume things. After they'd been in the library a while she tried to bring it up casually.

"So um, you and Xander. Are you going out, t-together?" The words sounded skeevy the moment she spoke them. There were so many intentions that could be inferred from that question, none of which she wanted to convey.

"Me and Xander? Oh no. Not since we were five." Willow's answer was followed by an almost imperceptibly quiet sigh.

_Oh, so it's unrequited. _Tara thought. She wasn't stupid, she knew that the feelings she were developing for the tiny redhead included attraction. She had also known for a long time odds were that any girl she met would prefer boys. There was no reason to expect anything would come of a crush. That meant not letting attraction get in the way of having a friend. She had been prepared, but still, she was more disappointed than she thought she would be.

Her study companion declined mentioning Xander was single, not wanting to encourage any interest Tara might have in getting together with him. Willow felt a little guilty, but the last thing her chances with Xander needed were competition from another gorgeous blonde.

They didn't bring up Xander again that day.

…

Next Thursday the sign up for the Science Fair finally arrived. Tara was making her way towards the table with the sign up clipboards when a boy with wavy ear length hair stepped in front of her and held up a camera.

"Smile for me honey."

She didn't have time to block her face before he clicked the shutter. He winked at her and went off to find other prey. The photographer took a shot of Willow before becoming distracted by a leggy blonde. Tara continued to the table, still shaken. Willow had started up a conversation with Chris after he came to protest the other boy's rude behavior. From what Tara had seen of Chris, he was almost as wrapped up in his own inner world as Tara was in hers. She wondered idly if Willow made a habit of befriending lonely introverts. It didn't seem out of pity. The little scholar just had that big a heart.

She joined her classmates as Chris read over Willow's project title. The redhead waved to her with a smile.

"'Effects of sub-violet light spectrum deprivation on the development of fruit flies,'? That should do the trick."

Tara was about to speak when the head cheerleader strolled up to them.

"Okay, I'm doing this under protest. It is not fair that they are making participation in this year's science fair mandatory." Cordelia complained. "I don't think anyone should have to do anything educational in school if they don't want to."

Willow looked down at what Cordy had written on the clipboard. "'The tomato, fruit or vegetable,'?" That surprised Tara. The brunette didn't seem stupid from what she'd seen in class. Was she really that stubbornly lazy?

"I wanted to do something I could finish in a weekend, all right?" She said defensively. When she turned around Eric had popped up to snap another photo. "Stop it, what are you doing? We are under fluorescent lights for god's sake." Cordelia shielded her face from any further shots. Tara felt envious of the girl's confidence. It would be such catharsis to tell someone like Eric off. The boy didn't seem too intimidated though.

"The camera loves you."

"I didn't think the yearbook nerds came out of hibernation until spring." Cordy taunted him.

"It's for my private collection." He gave the cheerleader that sleazy wink.

"Eric, will you quit it?" Chris said tensely. Eric ignored him and scoped out more girls. The next one to enter his field of view was none other than Buffy Summers, stepping her way through the clusters of students to the little group.

"Coming through. Sorry." Eric snapped her picture and she just blinked before continuing towards her friend. "Uh, sorry to interrupt Willow but it's the Bat Signal."

"Okay, sure." She looked at Tara, feeling like she was blowing her off. "Um, emergency study group meeting. I'll talk to you soon, Tara?"

Wheels were spinning in Tara's head. She had a notion that "study group" was a euphemism. If it meant what she thought it meant, she didn't want Willow to feel guilty about going. "Of course. A-another time."

Willow beamed in relief. "See you later Chris. Thanks for the tip."

"Okay."

Buffy and Willow snuck off to the library, leaving Cordelia alone with the shy kids. Cordy knew she could ask either of them for help with her project, but she'd never even spoken a word to the new girl. As for Chris, that just brought back too many painful memories.

"Ugh…" She left the nerds and started a mindless chat with some guys from the football team about tomorrow's game. Painful memories… She'd tried talking with her circle about Daryl's death in the past, but the people she usually hung around had all the emotional depth of a muddy boot print. Cordelia lied to herself about her ulterior motives as she went to library to ask Willow for help.

Tara said a quiet goodbye to Chris and headed for home. That night she contemplated Buffy and Willow's "study group". By the next morning she had decided she was going to ask. The worst they could say was no.

…

While Tara was in contemplation the Slayer and her crew were checking out graves. The girls chatted as Xander and Giles unearthed the first cheerleader's coffin.

"So you and Tara have been hanging out a lot lately." Buffy said, trying to draw out some details on the new girl from Willow. She was a bit curious about the witch's intentions, even if so far the girl didn't seem dangerous. The Slayer knew better than to assume she was as sweet as she appeared.

"Yeah. She's really smart and, insightful?" Willow said, pondering if wise was the right word to use. She'd never met anyone who had such interesting perspectives on literature or mythology before. Her own interests had always leaned a bit more to the scientific side of academia, but talking with Tara had awakened a curiosity about the humanities in her. "I like hanging out with her, but I kind of feel bad lying to her about the Scooby meetings."

"Don't sweat it. Everyone has stuff they don't tell to just anyone." Buffy reassured her. "I'm sure Tara has things of her own she keeps to herself."

Willow hoped that Tara wouldn't always think of her as "just anyone". It might still to be too early to call her a friend, but hopefully they'd reach that point soon.

"I guess so." She thought back to her friend's earlier reluctance to call Angel. "Like you're keeping our little grave digging field trip a secret from Angel."

Buffy groaned. "Not a secret, exactly. I don't need to tell him about every little thing I do. Especially not when he's all, eargh." The redhead raised an eyebrow.

"Did something happen with you guys?"

"We had an argument the other night. I couldn't believe Angel. He was acting all jealous and he wouldn't even admit it…"

…

Mustering all the resolve she could, Tara Maclay set out to confront Buffy. This was perhaps the boldest action she had ever taken. She'd spent the better part of the night wrestling with the pros and cons and come through determined to try. Her biggest fear was that news of it would get back to Donny, but she felt it was worth the risk.

The witch caught sight of long red hair and confirmed that Willow was with the Slayer before approaching them. Xander and the girls had been acting strange since the day began. Mid-morning break afforded her an opportunity to speak to them alone. They exchanged their greetings, Buffy a bit distractedly and Tara took a deep breath.

"W-willow, I was wondering if I could t-talk with you and Buffy?" She lowered her voice a little, moving out of the path of foot traffic. "About your s-study group?" She swallowed, bracing herself for whatever reaction was coming.

The redhead could feel beads of sweat forming on her palms. "Oh. Well, it's kind of a specific crowd. We um…" She glanced nervously at the Slayer, silently begging for her back up in creating a plausible lie.

"I-it's okay. I know Buffy is… different."

The surprise of that statement was only exceeded by the surprise of Tara opening her jacket to reveal the stake Buffy had given her the night they met. The hacker and the Slayer looked at one another and back to the witch as she hid the weapon. Willow was taken completely off guard. She wanted to explain how she'd never intended for this to happen but was speechless with shock and confusion. Buffy seized control of the situation.

"Let's go somewhere quiet."

She led them to an empty classroom and closed the door behind them. Buffy wasn't sure what Tara was getting at, and wanted as little interference as possible if something bad went down.

"What do you want?" She asked pointedly.

"I want to help, y-you guys. With the 'study group'."

Willow nearly winced. Buffy was going to be so pissed at her. She'd come on too strong with her new acquaintance and somehow spilled their secret. Tara was way too sweet and sensitive to get involved with the slaying. And where did she get a stake?

"You mean my job, right? Sorry, that's kind of a one woman gig." _Hence the chosen 'one'._

Tara sighed. She'd come this far, she couldn't back down now.

"Willow and Xander help you out though, d-don't they?" The girl in question looked at her shoes guiltily. "It's just… I owe you my life. I want to help people. Plus… I think it's safer kn-knowing what really goes on in this town."

"You don't owe me anything." Buffy said honestly. "It's what I do. Besides, the way I remember it, you saved me too."

"What?" Willow was more confused than ever. "When did this happen, how did it happen and why didn't you tell me about it?" She demanded of her super-powered friend.

"V-vampires…" Tara said.

"I saw her in trouble the night I got back from L.A., so I went to slay. She helped me out by…" Tara shook her head no, and Buffy took the hint. She wasn't ready for Willow to know about the magic yet. "Distracting one that was going to ambush me."

"And then Buffy g-gave me the stake." She bowed her head, her voice becoming smaller. "I just want to be useful, to you, to someone…"

The Slayer tapped her hip, contemplating how to deal with this. There was no going back as far as Tara's knowledge of her identity and the supernatural. That and she was a supernatural being herself. If push came to shove Tara would probably be safer out in the field than Xander and Willow. Plus she wasn't in it for the thrills like Owen, she genuinely wanted to help.

"Are you sure you want to do this? The kind of stuff we see, you can't really unsee."

"I've already seen it." She replied darkly.

Willow and Buffy exchanged another look.

"Okay, maybe you can kind of, ease into it? Right now we're looking for Chris and Eric."

Tara's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Oh. W-why?"

She was almost sorry she asked.

"They're going to m-make a girl? L-like with a spell?"

"More dark science than dark arts." Willow explained. "Chris is getting into some Dr. Frankenstein level quackery here."

The idea was shocking. Chris seemed so quiet and gentle. But things were rarely what they seemed in Sunnydale. Underneath the shy exterior was apparently a boy who would stop at nothing to make the perfect girl.

"Just keep an eye out for them. We'll meet up in the science lab after school's out."

"Shouldn't we take her to the library, tell Xander and Giles?" Willow asked.

"M-mr. Giles is part of the group?" That made sense. She had suspected he was involved since the 'study group' met in the library.

"Oh yeah. He's Buffy's- well, first of all, the reason Buffy can do all those crazy flippy fighty moves and break people's faces with her fists is because she's something called…"

"The Slayer." She finished for her. Both girls were impressed. "'Into every generation…'"

"'… a Slayer is born.'" Buffy completed the quote with a nod. "That would be me. Giles is my Watcher." She passed on elaborating when Tara nodded in recognition of the term. "We can grab Xander and go see him at lunch."

…

"Tara's going to do what now?" Xander said in bewilderment after the girls made their announcement.

"I think you'll be quite helpful actually." Rupert said to everyone's surprise. His initial worries about bringing the blonde into the fold were quelled when he considered how much more useful she'd be than Xander at research. That and she was charming and well mannered, unlike some other ungrateful teenagers. "It'll be nice not being the only one who can read the Latin books."

"You can read in Latin?" Willow asked with wide eyes. "For how long?"

"Since I was little. My mom taught me." While Tara had yet to tell her study buddy about her mother's illness, she had shared how her mother had influenced her interest in things like folklore and history. The more Willow learned about Tara, the more impressive she was to her.

"All right guys, we should get to the cafeteria. They still haven't shown up yet." Buffy said to bring them back to the task at hand.

…

School ended and the corpse snatching boys were nowhere to be found. Willow had been trying to puzzle out how they could reanimate the body and Tara was amazed at the pace the girl's mind ran at. They speculated that Chris and Eric had completed their experiment, but Giles's had found that all three heads were accounted for by the police. Unfortunately the boys were also only one step away from a complete girl.

They moved to the library and Willow took the helm of the computer, checking the obituaries for any recent deaths that could have supplied a head. Then she had an unnerving realization. Brain cells couldn't last in formaldehyde as long as other organs. They would need a fresh brain, as fresh as possible.

"Y-you don't think they'd really…?" Tara said, trying not to shake in fear. This was her first mission, she'd didn't want to look weak. "C-chris?"

"I think anyone that cuts dead girls into little pieces does not get the benefit of any doubt." Buffy said with a harsh edge. This hard side of her was something to behold; it was wholly different from the vivacious and sarcastic girl Tara was used to seeing in class. She wondered which was the real Buffy and which was the mask. "I want to end this thing now."

"I second that." Her Watcher agreed.

"Fine, we can go to Chris', you can go to Eric's, and we can meet up." Once again the Slayer handed out the marching orders. She was a natural leader. It was easier for Tara to keep herself together knowing that.

"I'm supposed to be at the big game…" Giles said, surprising the witch. He'd never shown an interest in school sports before.

"Fine, go ahead. We'll take care of this." Buffy acquiesced, wanting to get a move on.

"Yes, but shouldn't I-I-I…" He was clearly torn between his duty and whatever motivation he had for going to the game.

"Okay, then why don't we all meet there?" She compromised.

"Fine, yes." Giles made his exit and Buffy was left to instruct her remaining allies. Willow quickly moved closer to Tara as she piped up.

"I can go with Tara, you know, show her the ropes." She offered, hoping her best friend would approve. It had been interesting to talk with Tara about the slaying, but she was looking forward to some one on one time with her. There were so many things she wanted to ask her, and shy Tara was so quiet in group settings.

"Sure. Xander and I will take Chris' and you two take Eric's." The short blonde looked at their newest member. "Be careful, okay?"

Tara nodded. "I will."

Xander and the Slayer were turning to leave when Willow called out to her.

"Buffy?" She asked, taking a step towards her. "Don't be too hard on Chris. I mean, he's not a vampire."

"No." Buffy agreed with an eerie coldness. "He's just a ghoul."

…

Willow led Tara through the Sunnydale suburbs to the house of the teen photographer. It gave the former plenty of time to babble, much to the amusement of the latter.

"I hope you didn't mind me asking to go with you. I-I don't want you to think I'm making decisions for you. Just you know, you're new at this and I thought I could-" _Look after you?_

"M-mentor me?" She offered.

"Yeah. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I haven't died so far, so I must be doing something right." Willow didn't like bringing up the dying, but there was no point in hiding the dangers of the job. Apparently Tara had known what she was getting into, and she was taking the Scooby life surprisingly well. Willow could tell the idea of chopped up bodies being experimented on made her queasy, but who wouldn't be squicked?

"Well, you can be the mentor, and I'll be your s-sidekick." Tara said with a warm lop-sided smile.

"Oh no, you can't be my sidekick," Willow protested, gesturing wildly, "I'm Buffy's sidekick and that would make you a sidekick to a sidekick. We can both be Buffy's sidekicks, you're just in training for now."

They had reached Eric's house and Willow rang the doorbell.

"Hmm. So w-what does the training consist of?" Tara asked while they waited. It didn't seem anyone was coming. The younger girl looked around sneakily and began to inspect the planters in front of the door.

"Well for starters, know where to look for spare keys." After a few minutes' search she pulled out the tiny bronze key and held it up triumphantly. She unlocked the front door and gently pushed it open, checking once again that no one was home. They couldn't be sure until they took a look inside, so Willow took the first step in and waited for Tara to follow her.

"So, what do we do if w-we find him?" Tara asked in a near whisper.

"Report back to Buffy. We're not here to engage, this is strictly recon." She saw the blonde giggle quietly at that. "What?"

"You said recon." She couldn't help but grin. Scooby Willow was a hard-nosed customer, so much tougher than her petite frame let on. Again she could see how the girl had such a dazzling aura. "You guys are like c-cool monster fighters."

Willow flushed a little at the admiration, trying to keep focused on their inspection. So far the house was a kind of bland Americana affair, if covered in more catalogs and magazines than average. "Well, Eric isn't a monster, he's just a creepy pervert playing with dead girls."

"Just because someone is human doesn't mean they can't be a monster." Tara said with a low seriousness. She knew that Chris and Eric were meddling with life and death, one of the most inviolate laws of nature. Buffy was right; they needed to be stopped as soon as possible.

Upstairs they found the room had to be Eric's. Only a teenage boy would have such a prodigious collection of VHS porn and skin mags. Tara was almost embarrassed for him. At least Donny had the courtesy to keep his porn hidden.

Willow studiously avoided the smut and went for Eric's personal computer. It had multiple monitors, a scanner and a very expensive photo printer. She cracked his password and Tara watched her, once again impressed with the breadth of Willow's skills. She had known the girl was taking a programming elective, but seeing the hacker in action solidified how beyond her it was.

"Wow." She leaned in as Willow decrypted one of Eric's folders. "Do you d-do this often on m-missions?"

"Yup. It's how I earn my keep. It comes in handy more often than you'd think, even if it's just the little stuff. Of course, they might just need me around because Giles doesn't know how to use the internet." That last part was only half flippant.

"Oh. I-I don't know much about computers. I go online sometimes but, everyone's s-spelling is really bad. It's, kind of depressing."

The decryption finished and Willow browsed the folder. There was the expected porn, but there were also digital copies of the photos Eric had been taking at the Science Fair. She scowled.

"Oh he is so going to pay for this." After checking that the computer didn't hold any information relevant to the body snatching case, she wiped the hard drive.

…

They met up with Giles and Miss Calendar and sat with them to watch the game as they waited for Buffy and Xander. However it wasn't either of those two who came to find them; it was Chris.

"Chris, what are…" Willow started, anger seeping into her voice.

"There's no time." He said desperately. "Please, he has Cordelia. He's going to…" Chris couldn't get out the last words.

"Eric has her?" Giles asked as they all stood.

The young scientist shook his head, eyes heavy with grief. "Daryl has her."

There were so many questions the group wanted to ask. All but Tara knew how bizarre the idea of Daryl having anyone was. "We have to hurry before he does it." Chris pleaded with them. The questions were left for later.

As they neared the old science lab they could smell the gas fire burning. A cry carried down the hallway.

"Xander! Get me out of here."

When they reached the room they saw Buffy gripped in a bear hug by a hulking man in a Sunnydale football uniform. Tara could see the unnatural greenness of his skin, the unhealed suture wounds and gasped.

"Daryl…" Willow said in recognition. Tara tore her gaze away from Buffy's fight for a second to look at her. "Chris' brother." The redhead explained. "He was dead. But now…"

Buffy wasn't the only one in trouble. Xander was trying to get a hospital bed out of the way so he could push the one Cordelia was tied to out of the room. Giles and Willow went in to drag Eric's unconscious body into the hall. Xander finally cleared a path for the bed and shoved it towards them, hopping on as it rolled. Tara and Jenny caught it and rolled it away from the flames.

Xander was panting as he got off the bed. He hadn't managed to undo Cordy's bonds and now the girls were straining to get them off.

"A-are you okay? Are y-you h-hurt?" Tara asked, concern overcoming unfamiliarity.

"Not hurt, just freaked the hell out." The brunette rubbed her wrist as Tara got the first knot undone. "I was almost the bride of teen Frankenstein!" Xander would have laughed if he wasn't panting so hard. Cordelia glared back at the room where Buffy was still fighting. "I am so kicking Eric's ass when this is over."

"I think the police can handle that." Miss Calendar said, already dialing 911 on her cellphone.

…

The gang waited for the emergency crews to show up, splitting off into smaller groups as the various sirened vehicles arrived. Tara was clutching her arms tightly to her, Xander and Willow on either side of her. The smaller girl had kept a friendly hand on her shoulder since they left the basement.

"So, was it too much? Have we scared you away yet?" Xander asked, half joking and half worried. She shook her head, and they were surprised to see her smile.

"Y-you saved someone's life Xander. No one died. You guys w-won."

"Yeah, but it was just Cordelia. She gets kidnapped like, every other week." He said dismissively. Willow saw an ash smudged Cordelia approaching from behind him and smirked, wondering if she'd heard.

"Xander?" For once her voice was almost tender. "I just wanted to thank you for saving my life. What you did in there was really brave, and heroic and I just wanted to tell you if there's anything I could ever do to…"

"Do you mind? We're talkin' here." He interrupted her, ignoring her display of gratitude.

She huffed in indignation. "Fine, be a jerk, loser." She looked at Tara, whose eyes widened at for once being the subject of the queen bee's attention. "Tara, right? Take my advice and get out of this nerd pit while you can. You have way too good manners to be hanging out with them." Cordelia stomped off, leaving Willow and Xander amused but Tara unsettled. However big a bitch the cheerleader might be, Xander's taunt felt cruel to throw at a girl who had nearly been decapitated. The boy didn't seem perturbed at all.

"So where were we?" He asked.

"Tara was just saying the good guys won." Willow had noticed Tara say "you guys" instead of "we". She guessed the blonde still felt like an outsider. It was understandable, she had only been on one mission so far. But there would always be more. Willow hoped that it wouldn't be long before Tara considered herself one of the good guys too.


	3. Parent vampire conference

Author's Notes: Just so you know, each chapter will match up with one episode, although there will be a few chapters set between episodes. Some chapters will be like chapter one and have the events of the original episode happen mostly the same but "off-screen". Others will be more like this and chapter two and have altered versions of the events included. Let me know if there are any favorite Season Two scenes you don't want left out. Unless the plot would negate their existence I'll be happy to put them in. I'm glad you guys are liking it!

If anyone wants to read a Season Two Tara/Willow fic that's already done, check out "Wave" by 9kodoma. It's full of adorableness and has a much different plotline than this story.

Dirty Tube Socks: I promise Dawn will be written with minimal brattiness. I love her friendship with Tara and I've gotten used to writing her. Her presence will be explained first thing below. No Glory/Ben presence in this story though.

LEDlorien7: Thanks for the typo catch! There are always at least 8 of those I miss the first time I upload a new chapter, but I do go back and fix them. I'll add tags to thoughts from now on, I definitely want my writing to be as clear as possible. Willow's books were for the science fair (at least the titles Tara read), but that's a neat thought. Your other guesses are right on the money. That quote about the internet is from Season Five when Tara and Anya were talking about computers.

Chapter Three: Parent vampire conference

_Two months earlier…_

"I'm telling you brother, we cannot risk such a thing." Brother Mikail said attempting to calm his fellow monk.

The two monks had been arguing this point for months now. Brother Gregori was insisting that they heed the prophecy now. Brother Mikail, along with most of the other members of their order didn't want to put the Key in harm's way until absolutely necessary.

"And I am telling _you _brother, it is too risky not to!" Gregori put forward the tome he had been poring over so desperately. "At some point in the next three years, the Beast will rise. We must get the Key to safety now, before it comes seeking it."

Mikail looked at the book, wishing he could deny his compatriot's claim. Only recently had the diary of one of their ancient predecessors been unearthed and translated from the cryptograms it had been scribed in. The Abomination was coming, and the fate of all universes hung in the balance.

"To do what you are proposing would leave the Key human, helpless."

Gregori nodded. "Precisely. That is what the Slayer is meant to protect, the helpless."

That night the order gathered to perform the ritual that would mold the Key into flesh. As their power wove a new shell for the energy, it twisted through the memories of the Slayer and those closest to her. A new being was made from the blood of Buffy Summers, one the monks would entrust her to guard with her life.

...

Things changed after that day with Daryl. Tara didn't quite feel like a part of the group, not yet. But she had taken her first step in the door.

The witch was waiting with eager anticipation for Willow's arrival. Saturday was going to be her first time meeting with Willow and the others outside of school. The girls had agreed to meet up in the park before going to pick up Buffy and Xander. Tara loved this place. It was peaceful enough that she could ignore the "Hellmouth" energy and just enjoy the trees, the field, the stream, and the lovely bridge that passed over it.

Willow smiled when she saw Tara sitting on the bench they chosen as their meeting spot. The blonde waved back at her with a big grin and Willow's pace picked up.

"Hi," she greeted her as she took her seat. "You ready for the Bronze?"

"I'm a l-little nervous." Tara admitted. "But excited too, I think."

"It's an important rite of passage for aspiring Scoobies. You've already been attacked by vampires and logged research time, so it's definitely next on the checklist." Willow said, pondering what she could do next to make the other girl feel included.

The blue eyed girl felt a little warmer at the thought of belonging somewhere.

"So, are there any grown-ups besides Mr. Giles and Miss Calendar who know about the H-hellmouth?" She'd been wondering that since she'd learned about the connection between Buffy and Giles. The Slayer had more freedom than Tara had pictured her being given by the ancient shadowy council described in _People of Extraordinary Power_. Surely they were giving the chosen one more support than one tweed clad librarian, however skilled.

"Well, maybe, but no one we work with. Oh, except for Angel." It felt strange to think of him as a "grown-up", even if he was two hundred and forty something. Thinking of the vampire that way made the quasi-relationship he had with Buffy seem kind of naughty. Not that it wasn't naughty for plenty of other reasons, the first being, hello, bloodthirsty creature of the night. But they were so sweet together Willow couldn't help but root for them. Tara tilted her head questioningly. "He's kind of Buffy's boyfriend. But they're still working out the whole 'him being a vampire' thing."

Tara's normally narrow eyes shot open to almost complete roundness. Willow waved her hands as she hastily expanded on her statement.

"Oh oh, but Angel's not a scary "Grr, I'm going to suck your blood", vampire. He's more of a Louis from _Interview _type vampire, you know, with the abstaining from human blood and killing. He has a soul and everything." The older girl relaxed slightly, giving Willow enough piece of mind to take a breath._ I can't believe she hasn't freaked from all this supernatural stuff yet. She's a lot braver than she lets on, _the redhead thought happily.

"I-I guess it's helpful, having someone else super-strong around." Tara said with thoughtful nod. "Where does Miss Calendar fit in? Does she do the computer stuff, like you?"

"Sort of, but she more helps with the magic side of things." Willow was speaking so fast she didn't immediately notice Tara's eyes reach a new level of roundness. "She says she's not a real witch, just a techno-pagan." She finally noticed her companion's surprise and realized she'd jumped ahead a bit in the explaining department. Willow backed up to fill Tara in on the presence of magic. It was important to know if she was going to be a Slayette. "I know it's a lot to take in, but you should know, witchcraft, it's totally real."

Tara found herself laughing. She'd pictured this moment before several times, but somehow it had ended up happening in reverse. The younger girl just kept on with what she must have thought was new information, completely misinterpreting Tara's laughter.

"I know it sounds crazy but it's true!" She said with sincerity. "This one time…"

The blonde shook her head. "That's not it… just…" She looked around the park. No one was too close by. She wanted to demonstrate to Willow what she was, but would have to be careful not to do anything too noteworthy. Even if the people of Sunnydale seemed to be in denial about the supernatural, she couldn't risk exposing herself. "Let me show you."

She got up from the bench and went a few paces away to kneel on the grass. With a deep breath she focused on the earth's energy around her, and reached for the leaves sparsely covering the ground with her power. Willow watched as they began to hover ever so slightly, slowly twirling around Tara as the blue eyed girl waited for her reaction with a tentative smile. The witch was putting as much concentration as she could into making it look like a zephyr had picked the leaves up so it wouldn't look suspicious.

"Wow! You're a witch? How long have you been one? How did you become one?"

"Always." Tara said quietly as she gently let the leaves drift down. Willow was looking at her in awe, and without fear. "My mother is one too. I-it goes back in my family, at least as far as her grandmother."

"That's amazing. Jenny told me it takes years of practice to become a full-fledged witch. Does it always run in families like that?" She tilted her head in contemplation. "There's this girl in our year, Amy. Her mom is-was a witch. Do you think Amy might be one?"

Tara shrugged. "Maybe. It doesn't always pass on, a-and plenty of people who practice don't get it from their parents."

The redheaded scholar had so many questions she wanted to ask. There was a whole world out there she had only seen the surface of and she wanted to dive in. But Tara deserved someone to talk to who actually knew something about magic already. She was probably annoying the witch with her relentless curiosity. "You should meet her. If she is a witch, you'd have some else to talk about the magic with."

That offer held little appeal for her. A possibly magically inclined stranger was more intimidating than enticing. Besides, there was another girl she wanted to share her magic with. "M-maybe, some other time." She paused, hoping her next revelation would be as well received as her others. "Actually, I-I saw… y-you have a lot of power."

"What?" Willow said in shock. Tara might as well have just told her she was from planet Krypton. The idea was too impossible and thrilling. "No… I, I don't have any power. I'm no spellcaster, I'm just a computer geek."

"No you are." Tara said with calm seriousness. Willow's chest was heaving with each breath. The older girl blushed at her own forwardness. "I can see auras… yours, it's… it's intense. You have the potential."

"Whoa…" Her normal babbling was blocked by the enormity of what Tara was telling her.

Tara put all her hopes into her next sentence. "I can teach you, if you want."

"Really? Can we do it now?" She asked eagerly.

_She said yes! _Tara thought with joy. "We have to get to Buffy now, but soon."

"Could we start tomorrow?" Willow wanted to plunge into the world of magic as soon as possible.

Tara was just as eager to start, but Sunday was her day with her mother. Plus she would need time to come up with some kind of lesson plan. She wanted to treat this more seriously than her middle school experiments. "Tomorrow I have family plans… M-monday after school?"

"Absolutely." She stood, beaming with excitement. Together they headed for Revello Drive, both tingling with anticipation for Monday afternoon.

Neither girl noticed the leaves dancing in the air behind them as they left.

…

The Slayer was facing down a fearsome battle. She stood before her closet, glaring with determination to complete her task: choosing what to wear on her Saturday night out. Eventually she found a suitable skirt, but the piece she pictured matching it with was nowhere to be seen.

"Dawn, did you take my peasant top?" Buffy shouted to her younger sibling.

"Still in the dryer." Her sister called back from downstairs, not looking away from the television.

Buffy groaned and went to the basement, carrying the half of her outfit she had already put together with her. She was still pawing through the freshly dried clothes when the doorbell rang. Joyce Summers answered it before the teen could finish.

"Hi Mrs. Summers."

Tara tried not to fidget with her sleeve as Buffy's mother greeted them.

"Hello girls. You must be Tara." She greeted them amiably.

The witch nodded. A somewhat gangly brunette appeared behind the curly haired woman, eager to see the new arrival.

"Hi Willow." The youngest Summers said with a little bounce.

The redhead smiled. Dawn had liked Willow from the moment they met, appreciating someone who, unlike her sister, didn't think liking school was weird. Buffy always assured Willow and Xander they didn't have to feel obligated to spend time with her kid sister, but they both treated her like a friend, playing games with her and taking her to the movies on a somewhat regular basis. The Slayer told them that they wouldn't enjoy Dawn's company as much if they had to put up with her everyday like she did, and maybe that was true. But at least the attention they gave her was a good incentive for the young girl to keep from blabbing what she knew about the supernatural world to their mother.

"Hey Dawnie." Willow said warmly. "How's fifth grade treating you?"

"It's going good." Dawn's attention turned to the newest girl. "So you're Tara?"

She nodded again. "Hi. It's nice to meet you Dawn." Tara was pleasantly surprised both her greetings had come out with no stutters. There was something she liked about this family.

"Buffy says you can read a bunch of ancient languages. That's so cool."

Tara blushed as Mrs. Summers looked at her in surprised admiration. "Just a few…" She said quietly as Buffy arrived, having changed into her clubbing threads.

"Hey guys. You ready?" The blonde asked as her mother stepped aside to let her through.

"Sure." Willow said with a glance to Tara for affirmation.

"Have a good time girls." Joyce gave a look of unspoken warning to her daughter not to be out too late, which Buffy acknowledged. She was used to making an evening appearance for her mother before slipping out of her window for patrol. "It was nice to meet you Tara."

"It was nice to meet you too." The three high-schoolers left the house with brief waves to the Slayer's family, Willow and Buffy walking on either side of their new friend.

…

"The Bronze," Xander said grandly as they arrived at the night club in question, "Because the town isn't good enough for gold or silver."

"Is there a-a story behind that name?" Tara asked looking at the neon sign.

"Nope." Willow replied. "It's pretty much the only scene around here."

"Unfortunately it's also a popular scene for vamps, so keep an eye out for them." Buffy warned as she opened the door.

"They're easy to spot if you practice." Willow assured her, surprised Tara didn't seem concerned at the idea. Right now the girl was more intimidated by the crowd filling the converted warehouse than hypothetical vampires.

"There's always their auras." The witch said quietly. "They have a different l-look to them, and they feel really cold."

"Huh?" Xander said as the group took seats at one of the open tables. "Auras?"

The shorter blonde looked around for eavesdroppers and then back at Tara. "Are you sure?" Buffy asked. The older girl nodded. The three friends were practically joined at the hip. Now that two of them knew it made no sense to keep Xander in the dark, or Mr. Giles for that matter.

"Willow knows." She looked at the confused boy across from her, hoping his reaction would be as benevolent as his friends'. "Xander, I'm a w-witch."

His reaction was one of pure amazement. "Whoa. You see auras? Can you mind read?"

"Oh, oh no, that's w-way too advanced…" She said with embarrassment and a little relief.

"Xand, she's a witch, not a psychic." Willow chided him.

"Some people can read minds with magic, but it-it takes a lot of power." Tara offered. "More power than I have."

Buffy tilted her head thoughtfully. "That could be helpful." She frowned as she imagined going through school able to hear people's thoughts. "Then again teen boy minds, total ick." She shuddered a little before changing the subject. "So what did you do for fun back in Alabama?"

"I-I did some horseback riding." Xander seemed to want to know more about the witch stuff, but Tara was grateful for the topic change.

"Horses?" Willow said curling up a bit in fear. "Like big, tall, teeth that can take your arm off horses?"

"Oh sure, I learned to ride when I was a kid. I-it's fun." It was cute to see the redhead she usually saw as so brave and strong terrified of an animal girls were expected to idealize, of all things. Tara couldn't help teasing her. "And by the way, most horses don't like arm very much."

Xander decided to join in on the fun poking. "Will here was traumatized by a pony."

Buffy's eyes widened at this new information. "Really? This story I need to hear."

"We were at birthday party with pony rides when we were four. She went up to pet it…"

"Xander!" Willow said shoving him, feeling her face turn scarlet. He gave Buffy an apologetic shrug, relenting. Tara was still smiling at Willow, amused by the display of mortification.

"I-if you're careful I could show you how to ride some time." She said kindly. "I guarantee safety and fun."

They shared a long, meaningful look that neither of them quite understood.

"Okay." Willow said softly after a long silence. Somehow it was an agreement to more than just going riding; it was an acknowledgement of their roles as teacher and student to one another. Willow would teach Tara about being a monster fighter, and Tara would teach her about horses and magic. They hadn't known each other very long, but they trusted each other.

…

Monday afternoon Willow led Tara to her house for their first magic lesson. Principal Snyder had called Buffy to his office earlier that day and was making her and Sheila, another juvenile delinquent, set up the school for Parent Teacher night. Being true friends, Xander and Willow had agreed to help out and Tara was only too happy join in. It meant that this lesson was probably the only one they'd be able to squeeze in for a while, which disappointed Willow. She was determined to learn as much as she could and had already done some preliminary research.

"My parents are out of town for the week." Willow told Tara as they entered the Rosenberg home. "Lucky for me that means they won't make it to the conference on Thursday. I don't envy Buffy. Snyder is always giving her a hard time."

Tara wasn't sure if parents who were never around were really such a valuable commodity. Her own family situation was messed in many ways, but absentee parents didn't sound so wonderful either. Willow barely ever talked about them, and it seemed she'd accepted their detachment with her own indifferent resignation. It was odd considering how important her relationships with her friends clearly were to her. In any case, it wasn't Tara's place to judge she reminded herself as Willow led her to her room.

The bedroom was as organized and charming as Tara had imagined; there was even an aquarium with several lovely tropical fish. She watched them for a moment before facing Willow. The redhead stood there for a few seconds before indicating the floor with her hand and sitting down. Tara followed and pulled her book bag over, unzipping it to get out the crow feathers she had brought for them to practice on.

"So I was wondering," Willow asked as her teacher laid one of the feathers between them, "Should I call you a witch or a Wiccan? I've read that some people prefer that term, 'cause of all the negative associations with the word 'witch'."

"Well," Tara began after a moment's contemplation, "Wiccan technically means a follower of the Wicca religion. Not all followers of W-wicca use magic. And there are some magic users who don't follow Wicca. So, not all Wiccans are witches and not all w-witches are Wiccans." She took a breath, her tongue still a bit stressed from so many W's. She would have to get used to them if she was going to be talking about witchcraft and Wicca with Willow. _Wiccan witchcraft with Willow, _Tara thought, _Hard to say, but I like the sound of it. _"But, uh, to answer your question, witch or Wiccan is fine, s-since I'm both."

"Okay." Willow looked down at the feather. "So, what are we doing first?"

"I want you to try and float the feather," Tara could see her student's eyes light up with excitement and quickly continued, "B-but first you need to understand energy."

The redhead nodded. She was ready to learn whatever it took to harness her power.

"The energy that fuels magic comes from l-lots of places. It comes from living things, their lives and emotions. It comes from important events and times, like the solstices and equinoxes. E-even a place can have its own energy, like if something really significant happened there, or if there's a connection to another dimension."

"Like the Hellmouth." Willow chimed in. "That's why all the big nasties come here, to use its dark energy."

"Exactly." The blonde said with a nod. "Right now we're going to focus on tapping into the energy inside of y-you." She looked down at her legs. "I-I like the lotus position, but whatever helps you is fine. Just clear your mind."

Willow had been prepared for some meditation, and mimicked Tara's position to begin. She closed her eyes and the other girl let her sit in silence for a while before guiding her with her voice.

"Feel the connection. The air in the room, the heat of the sun coming in, the fibers of the carpet. Feel your breath coming in and out. That's your spirit, flowing between you and the world around you. Feel the air move through your body, expanding your lungs, filling them with the energy of the room."

It went on like that for some time until Willow began to feel a familiar prickling. Only instead of her fingertips, it began in the center of her chest and slowly filled her to each corner of her body. It was like the sensation of a leg that had fallen asleep waking up, only more pronounced. The sweet cadence of Tara's voice continued to lead her, and soon she was reaching out for the feather.

"You can open your eyes. Look at it as you feel the bristles spreading out from the vane. Feel its mass." The witch's stutter seemed to have vanished as she took on the mantle of magic instructor.

"I can feel it." Willow said with excitement. Her pulse was pounding, every extremity charged with the energy Tara had seen in her.

"Good." Tara said softly. "Now focus on making it lighter, lifting it from the carpet."

Willow's brow furrowed in concentration, determined to show that she had the power her friend believed her to have. After several minutes of scowling the black feather wobbled a tiny bit. The redhead groaned and redoubled her efforts.

"You're trying too hard." Tara said calmly. Willow always called herself an overachiever, and it was no surprise she'd go after mastering witchcraft with the same intensity she took on her academic life with. The younger girl looked at her in forlorn exasperation. "Think of it like you're holding a glass. If you hold it too lightly, or if you don't have the right grip it will slip away from you. It you hold it too tight it'll shatter."

"Okay, I get it." Willow said looking from the feather to her teacher's comforting blue eyes. "But I want to get this right."

"You will." Tara replied soothingly. "Just m-moving it at all on your first try is really i-impressive." It was no empty praise either. She hadn't expected the feather to move for the first hour of practice, at least. "Keep trying."

Her student assented, and before the day was done she had made the feather float for a good two seconds before falling down. It was an amazing new experience, and Willow was thrilled to have such a patient tutor to share it with.

…

Over the rest of the week they helped out Buffy with the decorations and refreshments for Parent Teacher night. Xander had a lot of questions for Tara about witchcraft, though more about what kinds of spells she had used in the past than Willow's questions about the mechanics of it all. Giles and Ms. Calendar both took the revelation well, though Giles expressed concern about them practicing without adult supervision. The girls promised to be as careful as possible, though Willow thought he was being over-protective. Wednesday afternoon the adult members of the Slaying group came to warn them all about the upcoming day of St. Vigius on Saturday, something Tara had never heard of. Apparently it was of some significance to the vampires, so they would have to be on their guard.

Wednesday night the gang unwound from the preparations for the conference with a night at the Bronze. The scariest moment should have been when Xander asked them all to dance. It took all her courage, but Tara managed to agree, if only not to look like a coward in front of Willow. The other girl was just barely pushing past her own insecurities to get on the dance floor. The truly frightening moment came later, when the mysterious bleached blonde man who had sent them outside clapped at Buffy's successful slaying. Like Giles had earlier, he warned them about Saturday.

"What happens on Saturday?" Buffy asked him.

"I kill you," he said with total assurance.

…

Angel carefully made his way through the halls of Sunnydale High, long since closed for the day. He had hoped he'd never have to tell Buffy about his descendants. It had been over fifty years since he'd seen his chaos loving grandchilde and if it were up to him he'd keep it that way indefinitely. But he couldn't ignore the rumblings in the underworld; Spike was gunning for his third Slayer kill. As always Angel was torn between his desire to protect the woman he loved and the need to keep his distance. And once again, he was going to compromise by offering a quick warning. Buffy had to know how serious this threat was.

"Well he can't be any worse than any other creature you've faced." He could hear Giles speaking on the other side of the library's double doors.

"He's worse." Angel said as he entered the room, his movements silent. Buffy turned around instantly to look at him. He walked slowly out of the shadows toward her and her companions. The dark blonde haired girl he had seen with Buffy at the Bronze on Saturday was with them. "Once he starts something he doesn't stop, until everything in his path is dead."

"Hmm. So he's thorough, goal oriented." Xander said lightly, though Angel could smell the fear coming from him.

Buffy got up from her perch on the table and walked towards him. "We were at the Bronze before. Thought you said you might show." She said coyly.

"You said you weren't sure if you were going." Angel replied with a smirk.

"I was being cool. Come on, you've been dating like for what, two hundred years? You don't know what a girl means when she says maybe she'll show?"

Tara could see what Willow had meant when she said he was kind of Buffy's boyfriend. Buffy and Angel were flirty, but there was also a tension and separation between the Slayer and vampire they conveyed in their body language. She was intensely curious about what the aura of a vampire with a soul might look like, but felt a little intimidated by him. It was rude enough that she had looked at Buffy and the others without their permission.

Willow saw Tara staring at Angel and took it upon herself to introduce them.

"Angel, this is Tara."

The vampire nodded. Buffy had mentioned the witch to him and he was glad that there was another person in Buffy's circle who could help keep her safe in the daylight. They exchanged brief hellos before the Watcher reminded them of the business at hand.

"Now that we're all introduced, we do have slightly more urgent matters to discuss."

"Yeah, like keeping my mom away from Principal Snyder tomorrow night." Buffy said turning back to face the group.

"And not dying Saturday." Jenny added. Buffy looked at her as if she were insane.

"Angel, do you know if this Spike fellow goes under any other name?" Angel was already out the door before Giles questioned him. If he lingered any longer the urge to be near Buffy would get too strong and they might get into a discussion of when they were going to have a "real" date. He could hear Xander threaten to put a collar with a bell on him and he shook his head. That guy just bugged him sometimes.

…

Thursday was split between battle preparations and conference preparations. Tara had picked up some holy water and other supplies from the Magic Box and was making simple protection charms for everyone. They wouldn't do much but slightly increase the chances of the holder avoiding injury, but Jenny and Willow agreed it was helpful and pitched in. Cordelia helped out whittling stakes with Xander, though with a large amount of complaining. Tara wondered why the cheerleader had bothered to come to help if she hated it so much. She reasoned Cordelia must feel safer staying close to those who knew what really went on in the dark in Sunnydale.

Buffy herself was mostly focused on how she was going to impress Snyder while keeping him away from her mother.

"How are the refreshments coming?" Tara asked the busily preparing Slayer. Buffy had been given the run of the staff lounge's small kitchen area to get the snacks and beverages ready.

"Great. I've just got to finish the lemonade." There was a small mountain of halved and squeezed lemons on the chopping board.

"How much sugar are you using?"

"Sugar?" Buffy said in confusion. The taller girl winced.

"I-I'll get some." She said heading for the packets by the coffee machine.

When she was done helping she went to meet her father and brother in the lobby. Eileen went out as little as possible these days, though Donald would have done most the talking even if she had been present. Tara was luckier than Buffy in that Snyder didn't have much to say about her. Donny on the other hand…

"Rough housing is not tolerated in this school. I don't know what kind of discipline you enforce at home, Mr. Maclay, but here we believe that rules are not meant to be broken."

"Are you implying I don't know how to discipline my children?" Donald said evenly, staring down the shorter man. The principal paused a moment before setting his jaw again.

"Just see that it doesn't continue, or he'll be pulled from the team." Snyder glared at Donny and went to pounce on another family. Donny flipped him the bird when his father wasn't looking. The Maclay men left for home leaving Tara to help out Buffy until the evening was over. Her father warned her not to be late and she agreed, looking for the other Scoobies.

At 8:45 the inevitable happened and Mrs. Summers and Principal Snyder's paths collided, much to the Slayer's horror. Willow and Tara tried to keep her spirits up, but when the adults returned from his office things looked grim.

They never did learn how grim, as the windows were crashed through by fanged intruders. Spike had begun his attack early. On instinct Buffy took her mother by the hand and began leading her and a group of parents away from the attackers. Tara followed, distressed when she looked back and saw Willow and Cordelia running in the opposite direction.

"Nobody gets out! Especially the girl!" The leather clad vampire bellowed to his minions.

"Everybody, this way! Come on." Buffy shouted and shoved a janitorial cart at the vampires.

Their group ran into Giles, Jenny and Xander in the hallway but a vampire came at them from another direction and they split again. Buffy and Tara's group ended up barricading themselves in the science lab. The lights flickered then died as Buffy locked the far door. They could hear slamming against the door. It would only be so long before the wood gave out.

The parents, including Joyce were understandably freaked out. To Tara's surprise Principal Snyder insisted that it was a gang on PCP, which didn't really explain the vampires' hunting faces that they'd all seen. The short man tried to escape through the window, but Buffy took charge, pulling him down from his stool.

"They will kill everybody in this room. Nobody comes in, nobody goes out until I say so, do you hear me?" She said firmly.

"Who do you think you are?" Snyder bristled.

"I'm the one who knows how to stop them." With that declaration she headed for the ceiling. Her mother grabbed her by the arms to stop her.

"Buffy, are you crazy?" Joyce asked her. "Look, I know you've been accused of fighting, and other things but those guys are serious, you can't go out there!"

"I know. That's why I'm going up there." The blonde indicated the ceiling with her head. She put a stool on one of the tables and climbed up. Tara braced it for her as she slid open the ceiling panel. "Don't worry mom."

Mrs. Summers watched with great fear pouring off of her as her daughter enter the opening.

"Sh-she'll be careful." Tara told her, hating to see such worry on the kind woman's face. "B-buffy knows w-what she's doing."

"I hope so." Joyce replied, not taking her eyes from the ceiling.

The next several minutes were unbearably tense. Snyder began pacing and Joyce started sniping back and forth with him. One of the fathers couldn't take it anymore and tried to get out the window.

"No! Look, you heard what Buffy said." Mrs. Summers called to try and stop him. The principal ignored her and went to join the other man.

"She's a student, what does she know?"

"S-stop!" Tara could feel waves of hostility and hunger coming from right outside the window. She rushed in front of Snyder and tossed a bottle of holy water through the opening. Her efforts were rewarded with a cracking sound followed by a howl of pain. The father took the hint and stepped back down. Joyce went to close the window behind him.

The danger was far from past. One of the vampires had apparently gotten a fire axe and was chopping through the door. He called for another vampire to guard him before he took his final swing, but he never made it. Joyce watched through the hole in the door, blocking Tara from seeing what was going on. In the hallway, Buffy was slaying. She completed her task and her mother begged her to leave for her own safety, but the Slayer was having none of it. Joyce agreed to wait for Buffy's signal to open the door and a few minutes later they all rushed out of the room and down the darkened hall.

"Hurry, get them out!" The directive was aimed at both Joyce and Tara.

"You're coming too." Buffy's mother insisted.

"In a minute. Go."

"Buffy!"

Both women tried to stay, but Giles practically dragged them to the library. The witch didn't want to leave without Willow. She could only pray that nothing had happened to her while they'd hidden in the science lab. Mrs. Summers was just as loathe to leave without Buffy and turned around before the Watcher could lead them to the cellar. Tara followed, grabbing another bottle of holy water so she could do something to keep Buffy's mother safe if it came to that.

…

Willow sighed as Cordelia prayed for their deliverance from the vampires. _Why couldn't I be hiding in a small room from monsters with Tara? _She grumbled before checking her thoughts. _I mean Xander. Better yet, why couldn't I _not _be hiding in a small room from monsters?_ The sounds outside had quieted, and she didn't know if that was something to be happy about. _I hope they're all okay… _

…

They found Buffy lying prone on the floor, Spike above her, poised to strike with a beam of wood. Joyce picked up the fire axe that had been discarded at some point and struck the vampire on the back of his head.

"You get the hell away from my daughter." Tara could feel the power behind those words. It seemed Buffy didn't get all of her fierce protectiveness from being the Slayer. Buffy stood and the Summers stared down the undead fiend together.

"Women." He said with a huff, and got to his feet before running off into the night.

Joyce let out of sigh of relief and lowered the axe.

"Nobody lays a hand on my little girl." Mother and daughter hugged, a beautiful moment only slightly marred by Buffy gazing down the hall for remaining trouble. The shorter blonde looked to her friend as she stepped out of her family embrace.

"You holding up okay Tara?" She asked.

"I-I'm fine, but Willow, and Co-cordelia…"

Buffy winced. "I didn't see them." Tara's heart felt like it was about to be torn in two. Willow couldn't be dead. Not when they'd just met, not when the girl still had so much ahead of her. Buffy could see Tara's dread and put a hand on her shoulder. "But I'm sure they're fine. Willow's really resourceful. We'll go look for them."

They found the girls in a custodial closet, Cordelia on her knees making promises to the Almighty if they'd get her out of this. Tara fought the urge to hug Willow at seeing her safe and sound, but it was an unnecessary effort. The little redhead wrapped her arms around her and before Tara could respond Willow pulled back and beamed at her.

"You're alive!"

"You too."

…

The Summers walked side by side after sending Buffy's classmates on their own paths home.

"So, what did you and Principal Snyder talk about anyway?" Buffy asked, fearing the worst.

"Principal Snyder said you were a troublemaker. And I could care less." The women stopped walking to look at each other. "I have a daughter who can take care of herself. Who's brave, and resourceful, and thinks of others in a crisis. No matter what dumb teenage stuff you think you need to do, I'm gonna sleep better knowing all that. And you have good taste in friends too."

They shared a smile. "But how long until this wears off and you start ragging on me again?" Buffy teased.

"Oh at least a week and a half." Joyce shot back as she resumed walking.

"Way cool."


	4. Girls with secrets

Author's Notes: Thanks for all the views. Every review helps urge me to keep going, so let me know what you think. I'll try to keep my profile updated as I come up with chapter titles and post date estimates. I'm going to skip past "Reptile Boy" so that I can get the "Halloween" chapter up before the real October 31st. Fortunately I won't have to excise much plot to do it.

I know it's taking a while to build up to the girls getting together, but they'll be getting closer in other ways for a while before they start their romance. There's also an overall plot that has nothing to do with the original Season Two storyline that will be picking up soon. For now plot seeds are being sown and Tara is being ingratiated into the gang. There will be plenty of sweet moments (and several left turns) along the way to them becoming girlfriends, I promise. And like I say in the summary, this is about Tara's other relationships too. Her connections with Buffy, Xander, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Joyce, Dawn, Jenny, Angel, her family and even some minor characters will all be important to the story in different ways.

boris yeltsin: Dawn was fourteen in Season Five, so she would be eleven here.

Chapter Four: Girls with secrets

Tara lay back on her bed, thinking about the intensity of the evening she had just lived through. As terrifying as the vampire attack had been, that wasn't the thing that had most thrown her. Willow's hug had totally disarmed her. The girl's arms had only been around her for a few brief moments, but it was enough to stun her. Tara had gotten used to dealing with the little things she felt around her friend. She still tingled whenever green eyes met blue, and felt a spell-like rush when the smaller girl touched her shoulder. The hug had been a whole new level of connection. She'd felt so warm and safe in Willow's arms.

The whole thing made her feel guilty. The poor girl had no idea what she was doing to her, the emotions and sensations she could stir up just by smiling at her. Tara had been hoping her attraction would fade over time as their friendship deepened, but spending time with Willow was having the opposite effect. Just waiting wouldn't make it go away. She wasn't sure what would. What's more, she didn't really want to. It couldn't do that much harm to enjoy her crush for a little while longer, could it?

…

At the Rosenberg house Willow was lying awake with confused thoughts of her own. It had been completely natural to hug Tara, just a pure expression of her relief and gratitude at seeing Tara unharmed by the vampires. But she'd felt regret after letting go of her, a desire to hold onto her and savor the feeling of being near her. It had felt almost like touching magic. The same way she felt whenever their gazes met.

It was startling and new, and she didn't know what to make of it all. It couldn't be that she… _liked _Tara. That wasn't possible. After all, the hug had felt totally different from hugging Xander. She knew what a crush felt like, she was sure of it. Willow concluded it had something to do with them both being witches. Maybe being close just meant they could feel each other's energies and she was reading too much emotion into what was a purely metaphysical exchange.

Still, it was definitely a feeling she wanted more of. They already had plans to see each other for magic lessons this Friday and Saturday afternoons. With luck there'd be plenty more where that came from.

…

By the end of Friday's lesson Willow had built up to thirty seconds straight floating small objects. Tara was proud of her student's progress and was already thinking of what they could move onto next.

"Do you think we can meet up sometime next week too?" Willow asked as Tara packed up. "I don't want to hog all your time, but I really feel like I'm getting somewhere, you know? This, it's not like anything I've ever done before."

"Of course we can." The blonde was happy for any excuse to spend time with the redhead. And seeing the girl master the basics of witchcraft would be exciting in its own right. "I'm um, busy on Thursday, but I'm free up the rest of the week." Thursday she'd be keeping her mother company during her chemo. "What works for you?"

Willow made a mental note to schedule her chemistry tutoring session with Rodney Munsen for Thursday. "Well, there's that field trip on Monday, and then the cultural exchange dance on Wednesday, which I know Buffy and Xander are going to want to go to. Tuesday's great. My parents won't be home till eight."

Tara had a brief moment of insecurity. Willow always seemed to plan their get togethers for when her parents were away. Did she not want her to meet them? She decided it would be hypocritical for her to complain when she'd never offered to show Willow her home at all. She'd love for Willow to meet her mother, but she knew if the girl got to know her father she wouldn't want to be anywhere near her.

"Sounds good to me."

…

After their last class on Tuesday the girls walked to the library to check in with Buffy and Xander before they went to Willow's.

"So have you picked a costume for the dance?" Willow asked. Tara had been hesitant about going, but knew she'd have three friends with her and decided she could manage. "I've got this Eskimo costume. I think the harpoon really pulls it together."

"That sounds cute." Tara said with a grin. "I-I thought I'd wear something Celtic, traditional. I-I'd feel weird dressing as something that I'm not."

Willow nodded. "I can understand that. My mom kept going on about how this whole thing is cultural appropriation and I kind of agree, but really, how many excuses do you get to bring a harpoon to a nightclub?"

They opened the library doors to overhear Buffy and Xander talking.

"Oh come. In all the years you've known Willow, you've never thought about her lips?" Buffy asked Xander suggestively.

"Buffy, I love Willow. And she's my best friend." Tara felt a twinge of envy at the huge smile Xander's words put on Willow's face. "Which makes her not the kind of girl I think about her lips that much. She's the kinda girl that, I'm best friends with." And the smile vanished into an equally huge frown. Xander's explanation also made Tara feel like a bigger pervert than ever. Friends definitely shouldn't think about each other's lips as often as she did.

Willow forced a semblance of a cheery face on and greeted their friends. "Hey guys."

"Willow!" Xander said a bit too loudly as he came over to them. "And Tara. We were just talking about happy things," He put an arm around each witch's shoulder, "Like the four of us going to the dance together, see? Happy." Xander pulled away when he saw Willow's frown return. "Not happy."

"No. Uh-uh, yes." She flailed her arms at Xander and Buffy. "We were just, going to tell you that we were going to practice some spells this afternoon, unless there's something Hellmouthy going on?"

"Nope." Buffy said with a sigh of gratitude. "I have to go pick up that Ampata guy in an hour though."

"I'll go with you." Xander said gruffly. "In case this guy tries anything."

The Slayer rolled her eyes. "You guys have fun with the witch stuff."

"Right." Willow said fidgeting with her fingers.

"See you tomorrow." Tara said as they left the room.

The redhead let out a groan once they were away from the library doors. "I know I know, I'm really obvious and pathetic."

"Willow, no…"

"I know I'm way too hung up on him, but… this is going to sound silly, it sounds silly in my head…"

"What is it Willow? I won't think you're silly."

Willow stifled a sigh. "The last night of summer vacation, the night you met Buffy, me and Xander were walking by the park, talking and eating ice cream. He got some on my nose and was teasing me with the cone, and then… it was like the atmosphere changed. I thought he was finally going to kiss me, but this vamp jumped us, and Buffy had to fight it off. I kept trying to recreate that mood, but the moment, it was gone. I lost my shot."

"Those vampires r-really are pure evil, aren't they?" Tara joked to lighten the mood. "I don't think that's silly at all Willow," she continued tenderly, seeing the corners of the smaller girl's mouth rise a little, "There's nothing wrong with having hope. I think… I think if it's meant to happen, it will happen. Eventually."

Willow's pain eased and a bittersweet smile succeeded in claiming her face. "Thanks Tara."

…

The girls had begun practicing mixing potions on Saturday, and a few hours into Tuesday they finally finished one that Willow deemed a success. There was something more Willow had been wanting to try after reading about it on one the spellcasting websites she'd been visiting.

"So I was wondering… I've gotten pretty good with the levitation, right?" Tara nodded with a smile. "Well, I've read that, people can cast spells together, get more power behind them. And I thought, since I've gotten the hang of floating things, we could maybe… float something together?"

"I'd love to." Tara could feel a blush, but Willow didn't seem to care. "W-what did you want to use?"

The redhead got up and pulled a red rose out the glass vase she'd been keeping it in. The blonde felt even warmer at the sight, but knew it didn't mean anything special.

"I-I'll make a circle for it. It'll help focus the magicks." Tara pulled some chalk out of her pack and looked questioningly at Willow. "Is that o-okay?"

"Sure." She sat down cross legged across from Tara as the older witch drew the circle beside them. "So, how do we…?"

"Give me your hands." Tara answered softly, holding out her own palms facing the ceiling. They gently took each other's wrists, and both had to stop themselves from gasping at the jolt that ran through their arms at the contact. "I-I haven't done this very often, so I don't know how w-well this will work."

Willow smiled at her companion's humility. "I read that for it to work our minds have to perfectly attuned, and work as a single delicate implement. My mind is always racing and spazzy, so if anyone's going to mess it up it'll probably be me."

They both laughed a little, nervous to begin. "Okay, we should um, probably start." _Before I forget why we're holding hands,_ Tara added to herself.

Willow nodded and closed her eyes. She envisioned the rose, and pictured it moving from the carpet into the air. The rush from earlier intensified, and she could feel a soft breeze waft through her hair. She barely noticed it next to the sensation that was spreading through her through the route of their clasped hands. It was a strong, firm presence that made her feel secure, warm, calm and excited all at the same time.

Tara did her best to focus on the rose and not get distracted by the feeling of Willow's energy meeting her own. Seeing her aura had somewhat prepared her, but having the magic inside of her was something all together more intense. It was like the wind she had seen was moving through her.

They finally managed to open their eyes and look at the flower. It was hovering peacefully at the level of their eyes.

"Wow." Willow was amazed that their first attempt had succeeded.

"It worked." Tara said almost breathlessly. She slowly took her hands back, not wanting to get anymore caught up in feel of Willow's power, not to mention her skin.

"Hey, what if we tried plucking the petals? With the magicks, I mean." Willow suggested.

"We can try." The girls looked at the rose, their powers still mixing without physical contact. Each pluck was like a strum on a string connected to their nervous systems. Their eyes met once the last petal had fallen, and the stem fell to the floor.

"Again, wow." Willow ran her fingers through the petals. "Um…"

Tara was sure the look on Willow's face was embarrassment. "Y-yeah?"

"Uh, does casting spells together always feel… like that?"

She thought back on the few spells she had done in tandem with her mother. She had felt warm and protected, but not so… stimulated.

"Um, n-not always. Did it, did it make you uncomfortable?" Tara couldn't help but look down, worried about the answer.

"No, it was just… new."

They cleaned up the room and said their farewells. Willow was a little confused about what had happened between them, but she was still eager to continue their lessons. Tara certainly was too.

She also had an inexplicable craving for strawberries.

…

The next day brought several surprises. The first was that the "guy" Buffy was supposed to be hosting for the exchange program was a girl. Xander had met her the previous night and was already obviously smitten. He insisted on giving her a tour while the girls went to the library to get their homework done before the dance. Several minutes in, Willow still hadn't gotten past her first page, twirling a stuffed frog around in her hands.

"Is this a comma splice?" Buffy asked pushing her essay toward Willow. Her friend didn't look up. "Hey."

"Oh." She put down the frog and looked down at the paper. "Yes. I'm caring about English."

Buffy shared a knowing glance with Tara. "Ampata's only staying two weeks." She reassured her.

"Yeah." Willow began twirling the frog in front of her lap again. "And then Xander can find someone else who's not me to obsess about." Neither Tara nor Buffy had anything to say to that. Buffy had been trying to nudge her best friends together, but so far Xander had been too dense to see what was right in front of him. "At least with you I knew he didn't have a shot." Willow paused again, squirming as she tried to regain her confidence. "Well you know, I have a choice. I can spend my life waiting for Xander to go out with every other girl in the world, until he notices me; or I can, just get on with my life."

Tara tried not to be so happy about that declaration. _She should be happy, _Tara thought. _It's not going to be with me, and if it's not going to be with Xander it should be with someone who appreciates her._ "Th-that's a good attitude."

"Good for you." Buffy agreed.

"Well I didn't choose yet." Willow said nervously. She wasn't quite ready to let go after mooning over Xander for so long. But something inside her was more ready than she had been a month ago.

An hour later the girls left the library and found Xander and Ampata talking in the hallway. The exchange student seemed shaken by something, and Xander was promising to protect her. Tara and Buffy stood back as Willow went to him. The blondes both had mixed feelings when she told Xander to take Ampata to the dance. They knew that must have taken a lot out of her.

"You know what Willow? You're my best friend." He touched her arm for a moment before going back to Ampata. Willow watched him leave, wistful.

"I know." She said softly.

…

Buffy had had all sorts of ideas about an outfit for the cultural exchange dance, but she ultimately decided on a red northern Chinese dress and slipper combo. It had come to her in a dream: a vision of a city a hundred years in the past, and a night the Slayer Xin-Rong had had some respite from her duty to go dancing. She had an idle thought that her shoes wouldn't leave much of an impact if she had to kick someone, but hopefully she'd be using them for partying, not fighting. Buffy looked at herself in the mirror, and the sight felt familiar.

The doorbell rang and she left with Xander and Ampata for the dance.

…

To no one's surprise, Xander and Ampata were wrapped up in each other, he in a western poncho and her in a beautiful Peruvian dress. Willow was sulky, having been the only one not to get an admiring look from the male Scooby. _Ampata dressed sexy, Buffy's never not sexy, especially to Xander. And Tara in that green bodice, yikes. What the heck was I thinking coming wrapped up in a parka? _Willow thought as she made her way to the bathroom.

Buffy had taken a break from dancing to keep Tara company while Willow was gone. Neither of the shy girls had danced all night. Buffy had expected they'd be wallflowers, but it was starting to bum her out. She saw a boy looking at their table, and not at her. There was an opportunity.

"This is a pretty cool night." Buffy said to Tara conversationally. "Good band playing, everyone's dressed up… That guy's checking you out."

"W-what?" Tara said with a lightning quick glance at the boy Buffy's eyes had indicated. "W-what is he looking at?"

"The hotness of you, witchy woman." The Slayer teased to calm her friend. Tara just looked more nervous at that and Buffy decided she might have approached the whole thing wrong. "If he's bugging you I can totally go over there and destroy him with a few words. I'm great at slaying guys' egos."

"N-no, you don't need to…" Tara trailed off, playing with the sleeve of her dress. "I-I'm just not used to that. He was really looking at me?"

Buffy shook her head. It was refreshing that her girl friends were unaware of their own good looks instead of being full of themselves like Cordelia and her minions, but it was frustrating too.

"Really." Buffy assured her. "And it's not the first time I've seen it happen. I swear you and Willow… You could both have your pick of guys if you just came out of your shells."

_Oh gods, not this… _Tara groaned in her head. She'd managed to avoid the subject of her love life so far, but now she was backed into kind of a corner. _It's just the kind of girl Buffy is, she wants to talk about boys and dating. If this friendship is going to last… then she has to know. _Tara swallowed, bracing herself for rejection.

"I'm not interested in, in having my pick of guys…" Tara's voice was barely audible. "Buffy, I-I'm gay."

Hazel eyes went wide as saucers. "Oh." Buffy set her drink down and took a deep breath. "Oh." She repeated.

Tara looked away, knowing it was over. It had been nice to have friends for a little while. "I'll g-go."

"Tara no!" Buffy reached out and took Tara's hand before she could leave the table. "I'm not… freaking out or anything, it's just, whoa, new information. A-and I'm glad you told me." She kept her hold on the taller girl's hand as an uneasy smile came to her face. Once she was sure Tara wouldn't leave she let go. "You should be the one freaked out by me. I mean, I don't think there's even a word for people who are attracted to vampires." Tara stifled a giggle at that. "Well, one vampire. Still not a sign of healthy teen sexuality."

"Am I missing Angel talk?" Willow asked as she took her place at the table. Tara jumped a little, wondering how much the redhead had heard of their conversation.

"Um, not really. I was just saying I'm a weirdo for wanting to date the undead." Buffy said, still a bit uncomfortable. "I'm going take my turn in the little girl's room." She left the witches alone.

Tara looked at Willow, still confused by Buffy's reply and abrupt departure. "Are you sure I didn't miss anything?" Willow asked leaning her harpoon on the pillar behind them. "Buffy seemed to be having kind of a wiggins."

"She just got some unexpected news." Tara replied, willing herself not to look at the floor or stutter. "Um, I think you should hear it too." Willow looked at her in rapt attention, waiting for her to continue. "You've been so nice to me, made me feel welcome, so I think you should know…" She inhaled to steady herself. "I'm gay."

Something twinged inside of Willow at Tara's admission. "Oh. Cool. I mean, no one's ever felt close enough to me to come out before. It's like an honor or something. How long have you known? Are you out to your family, or…? I'm talking too much."

Tara exhaled, not having even realized she'd been holding her breath for her friend's response.

"Since I was eight, I think. My family knows… only my mother is really okay with it, but they all know."

…

While the witches talked Buffy took the time to process this new knowledge about Tara. She'd never had a gay friend before, and she'd never really thought about how she felt about homosexuality. She knew some of mother's business contacts had 'partners', but that was about extent of her personal contact with gay people.

No, that wasn't completely true. At her old high school she and her friends had caught two girls holding hands and mocked them mercilessly. It hadn't meant anything to Buffy, for her it was just another of any number of things she made fun of less popular kids for. But it had probably meant a lot more to those two girls. Then there was that boy Ross, the only student at her school who had died before the vampire attack. The harassment he got for his orientation must have been at least part of why he'd committed suicide.

Tara was a good friend, and even if she was… unconventional in her attractions, it was no reason to treat her any differently than before. Buffy resolved to not show any more freaking and went back to her friends.

…

Giles dialed the Summers' home on the off chance that his charge would still be there.

"Are you Buffy? Please be Buffy." Dawn sounded positively frantic.

"It's Giles. Dawn, what's happened? Where is your sister?"

"She's at that dance. I didn't mean to look, really. But she's an exchange student you know? I just wanted to know what kind of stuff she brought from South America, I didn't mean to…"

"Dawn, please." The Watcher said firmly, his own situation being too urgent to listen to a preteen's fretting for overlong. "What has happened?"

"There was a mummy in the trunk. I thought it was weird Ampata was supposed to be a boy, and then she's a girl, and only has boy's clothes in her suitcase…"

"Dear lord." Giles said as the pieces began to fit together. "I'm going to get Buffy. Don't touch anything else."

"Gross! Why would I touch it?"

"Good bye Dawn." He set off for the Bronze, praying he wouldn't be too late.

…

The girls were getting snacks from the buffet table. Tara picked up a cheese wedge Willow had knocked off the tower with her gloves and handed it to her while Buffy saw Giles coming over to them. He had his "evil is afoot" face on.

"What's the what?" The Slayer asked her Watcher as he reached them.

"Where are Xander and Ampata?" Giles asked looking around the crowded club.

"Xander went looking for her." Tara answered.

"Bloody hell." He made a quick swipe at his glasses. "A mummified body was found in a girl's bathroom at the school. And Dawn just found another one in Ampata's trunk."

"My god…" Buffy said. "I thought something was off about her."

"I believe she may not be who she claims. In fact I believe she may be a mummy herself."

"I w-was getting queasy feelings around her." Tara said thinking back on the few times she had been close to the Peruvian girl.

"Oh." Willow said with a smile. "Good." She frowned, remembering that Xander was in danger from more than just a break up from incompatible states of aliveness.

"Where are they?" Rupert asked.

"Backstage I think." Willow said, and they all left to go find their friend.

They were all too preoccupied to hear the voice of the band's lead guitarist calling after Willow.

"Hey I uh… Who is that girl?"

They rushed into the room to find Xander slumped against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked.

"I think so. Boy that was some kiss." He said breathlessly.

"Where's Ampata?"

"She said something about making sure the seal was broken for good."

"What seal?" Buffy asked, brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Th-that plate on the mummy's tomb in the m-museum." Tara said, thinking back to their field trip. "It had some kind of old writing on it. M-maybe that has something to do with all this."

"What's going on?" Xander asked in a daze.

"He doesn't know?" Willow wasn't sure how he could have missed that his girlfriend was undead, especially if they had kissed.

"Tell him on the way." Buffy said. "Giles, let's drive."

…

Buffy urged Giles to drive faster as they headed for the museum crammed into his car. The Slayer ran ahead of them to the mummy's tomb, hoping they were right in their conclusions. Willow could hear Buffy and Ampata's voices carrying down the hall as she followed.

"Looks like you've been keeping secrets from me. You're not a normal girl." Ampata said in response to Buffy's leap into a fighting stance.

"And you are?" The blonde retorted in disgust. She could see the dead, dry flesh creeping along the other girl's body.

They fought, but Buffy was swiftly knocked into the tomb and Ampata trapped her in with the lid. Willow arrived and the mummy grabbed her around the throat.

"This won't hurt." The dead girl told her as she leaned in with her mouth.

Tara was just a moment behind the other witch and a fury rose in her at seeing Willow in Ampata's clutches.

"Ignis ignesco!" A small flame shot out at the mummy. Ampata's shoulder caught fire and she let go of Willow to smother the flames against the wall. Willow ran to Tara, who took her in her arms without thinking. Giles caught up with them and put a hand on Willow's shoulder, wondering where Buffy had gotten to.

"If you're gonna kiss anybody, it should be me." Ampata looked up to see Xander.

"Xander, we can be together." She looked hungrily at the embracing girls. "Just let me have one more."

"That's never gonna happen."

"I must do it. I must do it now. Or it is the end for me and it is the end for us." Ampata made to run for the girls, but Xander blocked her and grabbed her arms.

"No!" Xander exclaimed as Tara moved to shield Willow with her body. "You want life, you're gonna have to take mine." Ampata shook her head, disbelieving. "Can you do that?"

Ampata paused, considering. "Yes." Tara wanted to shoot another flame at the mummy but didn't want to separate from Willow to get the needed angle. Ampata may have decided to drain Xander, but she was apparently hesitant, taking her time, getting more desiccated by the second.

They could hear Buffy pushing the lid off the tomb. The Slayer got to the mummy in time to pull her back from Xander, but to her horror it separated the undead girl's arms from her body. Everyone in the room felt their stomachs lurch and they dropped the mummy parts. Xander flinched backward, falling on his rear. Buffy had a look of sorrow and regret on her face as she looked at the dusty remains of the Incan princess. Willow looked at Tara for a moment and slowly left her arms. She kneeled by Xander to comfort him, and Tara's jealousy couldn't surface with her overwhelming gratitude at seeing her friends safe. The five left the museum, taking one last glance back at the tomb.

…

The next day Willow and Tara were on their own while Buffy talked with Xander about Ampata.

"I-I hope he'll be okay. That has to be heart breaking, meeting someone and then losing them so quickly…" Tara said sadly.

"I think he'll get through it." Willow reassured her. "He's been through a lot, living on the Hellmouth. We've kind of gotten used to saying goodbye since Jesse."

Tara stopped walking, hearing a deeper sadness in Willow's tone than usual at that name. "Who was Jesse?"

Willow got a faraway look in her eyes, thinking back to the day she met Buffy. "He was our friend. We weren't as close as me and Xander, but he was of the only people who hung out with us. He… got turned by vampires during our sophomore year. It was the first time we lost someone we knew. I mean, there were always unexplained deaths in this town, but before we met Buffy we always thought they were accidents and drug gang murders." Willow felt her throat becoming choked. She'd never really talked about this with anyone since she had to keep Sunnydale's nightlife a secret.

"Do you want to tell me about him?" Tara asked after giving her friend a minute alone with her thoughts. Willow smiled softly.

"I'd like that."

She told Tara stories about her lost friend, and as the day went on she found herself sharing about all the teachers and schoolmates that had died at Sunnydale High. Willow realized that she'd been shoving aside a lot more grief than she thought for the past year. Talking with a sympathetic listener about her loss was a great comfort, and one she hadn't known she wanted.


	5. Samhain

Author's Notes: Happy Halloween to you all! This is the first of the chapters I'll be naming for the Wiccan sabbats. I'm lucky to have a roommate who I can consult for all things Wiccan.

Missocki: I think they're both falling at the same time, Willow just doesn't recognize it for what it is yet. We will get there, but like I said, a lot of left turns and non-romantic comedy type complications are going to happen first.

Boris Yeltsin: The Maclay family secret is absolutely an important part of the plot, and it's going to be revealed and resolved much differently than in "Family".

Dirty Tube Socks: You should totally watch the first two seasons all the way through if you haven't. The first season is a little weaker than the rest of the show but does a good job establishing the mythos of the Slayer and how vampires work in the Buffyverse. Season two is freaking awesome. All of Buffy is on Netflix instant play right now if you have it.

You'll see Xander's reaction below, Giles I think would just take it in stride, and as for Cordelia it probably won't be what you expect. I'm basing it partially on her misunderstandings with Harmony in the Angel episode "Disharmony" while tempering it with her high school immaturity. Right now she's kind of a member of the gang but isn't a proper Scooby until the "What's my line?" episodes.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing!

Chapter Five: Samhain

The days following the dance brought more bad news. Rodney Munsen, a boy Willow tutored in Chemistry had gone missing, and on a late night trip to the museum Giles found another mummy in Ampata's tomb with braces similar to his. Willow had a point about her and Xander being used to saying goodbye. They managed to keep on with their normal lives commendably despite the deaths and Tara had to admire their resolve.

The mummy drama had overshadowed Tara's coming out somewhat, which had gone much better than she had expected. Buffy had gotten over her initial shock and was friendlier than ever. Xander thought the whole thing was awesome and made a joke about Tara being his wingman to pick up chicks, which both Willow and Buffy thwacked him for. Tara had been most anxious about what Willow's reaction would be, and had assumed her student would at least cut down on her small displays of physical affection. She couldn't have been more wrong. The pats on the shoulder, the hugging, and holding hands while casting spells had only increased in frequency. Willow even braided Tara's hair while Buffy and Xander did the same to hers as they sat watching the Indian channel.

Buffy and Tara also found a new way for the witch to help with the slaying. On the nights Joyce was out but Giles insisted on the Slayer patrolling, Tara would step in to babysit Dawn until Buffy snuck back home. The younger Summers became fast friends with her and Tara entertained the girl with scary stories and folktales from the south.

Tara saw Angel in action for the first time the night of October tenth when Buffy and Cordelia were captured by a snake worshiping fraternity. Seeing his demon face was frightening in more ways than one, not the least of which was that it stirred Tara's fear of what her own demon face would look like when it emerged. She had never seen her mother's, but with all the care her father and brother took to control them that was no surprise. Scary or not, Angel was obviously devoted to Buffy and a powerful ally. She and Willow both smiled when the vampire agreed to meet the Slayer for coffee. Xander was less thrilled, still holding a torch for the feisty blonde and not being fond of any vampires, even souled ones.

October sixteenth arrived, and Tara did her best to face it like any other day. She was on her way to lunch when Willow ambushed her.

"Hey!"

"Hey." There was some extra excitement in those green eyes today. "Something up?"

"There's something I want to show you in the computer lab. Come on." Willow took her hand and began leading her to the classroom.

"O-okay, but you know I'm not that good with computers." Tara said in bemusement.

"That's okay, you won't need to be." Willow said as she opened the classroom door. She pointed to one of the computer stations and Tara sat down obligingly. "Click on the blue icon that says 'Star Map.'"

She double clicked the picture of a blue sun labeled 'Star Map'. A photo of the night sky appeared on the screen with the same title in the center. It faded out to show a globe dotted with stars.

"You can spin the globe if you want." Willow said, watching Tara's reactions nervously. The hacker pointed at the two entry fields at the top of the screen. "Or you can enter a date or the name of a star or constellation."

Tara typed in a random date and watched the map turn. Willow pointed at the screen again. "If you hover over something it'll tell you the name. Some of them have close up satellite photos if you click them." Tara humored her and clicked the Horsehead nebula, opening a pop up window with an arrow that would take her back to the map.

"Willow, this is really cool, but um, I don't really get why we're looking at it right now…?"

"Um, it's just…" The smaller girl pulled out a small package with silver wrapping paper and a blue bow. "Maybe this will explain things?" She handed it to Tara, who just held it until Willow urged her to open it. Inside was a CD in a jewel case labeled "For Tara". "Happy birthday!"

Tara flipped the CD over, still confused. "The Star Map is on this?" Willow nodded vigorously.

"I-I saw that today was your birthday in the school records… not that I'm stalking you or anything, I just saw them when I was doing some Scooby research and I thought I should do something, and you said astrology is a big part of magic, and that Van Gogh's "Starry Night" is your favorite painting and I thought this would be kind of cool way for you to, um, check what the sky will look like on a given night or where a planet you needed to be in alignment for a spell will be, or just to look at the pretty pictures. Gotta love the Hubble telescope right? And…"

"You can take a breath W-Willow." Tara said with a small laugh. "Where did you find this?"

"Oh, in different books and the NASA website. I tried to make it user friendly. I'd have made the pictures higher resolution but I wasn't sure what your home setup is like…"

"Wait, y-you made this?" Willow nodded again. Tara looked back at the screen and back to her friend. "When did you…?"

"I worked on it in programming class." She said a bit mischievously. "But I'm way ahead of Miss Calendar's syllabus so it didn't make me miss class work or anything."

Tara shook her head, touched by the girl's thoughtfulness. "Willow, you didn't need to do all this."

"I wanted to! It was fun." The redhead bit her lip anxiously. "You-you like it, right?"

"I love it. Really, no one's ever… Thank you." She dragged the globe to a familiar portion of the sky. "Now I'll always know where the Big Pineapple is."

"Um, I'm not sure I know that constellation." Willow had an idle fear she'd missed entering in some data. The blonde smiled at her.

"It's a major one." She pointed at a line of stars on the screen. "See these? They form the base of the pineapple."

Willow looked intently at the dots before the shape appeared to her. "Wow. That's big."

"Hence the name." Tara sensed Willow was still feeling a bit unsure if she'd missed something in her research. "The real ones never made sense to me so I made up my own."

"Oh. Cool." The programmer said in relief. "You could show me and I could add them into the database."

The older girl chuckled at the offer. "That's okay, I know where they are. But I could show you, if you, um, wanted to go stargazing sometime." She hoped she wasn't being too bold, but Willow just beamed at her.

"Absolutely."

…

The rest of October passed swiftly, and soon the school was covered in Halloween decorations and reminders about holiday safety.

"So do you and your mother celebrate on Halloween, or uh, Samhain?" Willow asked, having read some about the holiday's history on her Wiccan websites.

"Yes, but usually we celebrate on November first. We put out some food and light a candle for the spirits the night before though." These were of course, private subtle things shared between mother and daughter, not something the whole Maclay family took part in.

"It's kind of the Wiccan New Year, right?"

"It is." Tara said closing her locker and leading them to where they were meeting with the others. "How much do you know about it?"

"Pretty much just that, that's it the New Year and a night spirits can walk between worlds and what not." Willow said slinging her backpack with the rainbow straps over her shoulders. "Spells are supposed to be more powerful too, aren't they?"

"Yes. It's one of the two big spirit nights in Wicca, along with Beltane in the spring. It's the night the world turns to winter and darkness. Have you heard of the cycle of the god and goddess?" Willow shook her head. "Well, all the big days in Wicca, the equinoxes, solstices, and of course Samhain are all parts of a story about the life and death of the god and his relationship with the goddess."

"What happens on Samhain in the story?" Willow was genuinely curious.

"The god dies, symbolizing the weakening of the sun and shortening of the days. The goddess grieves for him and nature mourns with her. But she's carrying the god's child, and on Yule she gives birth to the new god and the cycle starts again."

They ran into Xander and Buffy a minute after Tara finished her story. Unfortunately the gang crossed paths with Principal Snyder not long after and were pressed into trick-or-treat chaperoning service.

"I can't believe this. We have to get dressed up and the whole deal?" Xander said perturbed.

"Snyder said costumes were mandatory." Willow confirmed. Tara was quietly panicking. She hadn't dressed up for Halloween since elementary school, let alone gone out. Now she was supposed to look out for a group of kids she didn't even know? Buffy wasn't pleased either.

"Great. I was gonna stay in and veg. The one night a year things are supposed to be quiet."

"Halloween quiet?" Xander asked in surprise. "Well I figured it would be a big old vamp scare-a-palooza."

"Not according to Giles. He swears tomorrow night is like dead for the undead. They stay in." They sat down around the table by the vending machine except for Xander.

"Those wacky vampires. That's why I love 'em. They just keep you guessin'." He went to get a soda while the girls chatted.

"So why is it quiet for the undead if the veil between the spirit world and ours is all thin?" Willow asked Tara.

"I-I'm not sure. Before I came here I'd never even seen a vampire. It's a big night for magic users though." The witch answered.

"Maybe they all just stay home to party with their friends." The Slayer said with a shrug. "I'll ask Giles later." Buffy saw Xander about to get in a fight with Larry from the football team and got up to intervene. Xander was less than thrilled at the rescue.

"Xander I-" She tried to apologize.

"A black eye heals, Buffy, but cowardice has an unlimited shelf life. Oh, thanks. Thanks a lot for your help." He said sarcastically and grabbed his backpack to leave.

Buffy sat down with the Diet Dr. Pepper her tussle with Larry had won her. "Ohhh. I think I just violated the guy code, big time."

"Poor Xander. Boys are so fragile." Willow said. "Speaking of, how was your date last night?" Angel had finally been going to have that cup of coffee at the Bronze with Buffy and Willow was eager for a report.

"Misfire. I was late due to unscheduled slayage. Showed up looking trashed."

"Was he mad?" Willow asked.

"Actually, he was pretty unmad. Which probably had something to do with the fact that Cordelia was drooling in his cappuccino." Buffy said with a grumble. Tara wasn't surprised that the cheerleader was interested in Angel. She had been pretty clingy to him after being rescued from the reptile worshippers.

"Oh Buffy. Angel would never fall for her act." Willow assured her.

"You mean that "showing up wearing a stunning outfit, embracing personal hygiene" act?" Buffy quipped sadly.

"I'm sure he didn't mind… he r-really seems to care about you." Tara said softly.

"Exactly." Willow agreed. "Cordelia's totally not his type."

"Are you sure?" Buffy said. "I mean, I don't know what his type is. I've known him less than a year and if you haven't noticed, he's not exactly one to overshare."

"True." Willow admitted. Angel was pretty taciturn. "It's too bad we can't sneak a look at the Watcher Diaries and read up on Angel. I'm sure it's full of fun facts to know and tell."

"Yeah… it's too bad." There was a naughty undertone to the Slayer's words. "That stuff is private."

"Also, Giles keeps them in his office. In his personal files." Willow said innocently.

"Most importantly, it would be wrong." Buffy said, already hatching a plan.

"You're not r-really going to…?" Tara asked. It was no sneakier than things she had done herself, but the thought of going behind Giles' back spooked her.

"It would just be a quick peek." Buffy said in their defense. "And we'd put it right back. He's expecting me soon. You guys in?"

"I am." Willow said. "Tara?"

"I have some chores I have to do. But good luck with the um, peeking." She got up from her seat.

"Hey, why don't we meet up later at that Halloween place that opened up recently, Ethan's?" Willow said excitedly. "We can all get costumes together."

"Sure. I can be there at five?" Tara offered.

"Sounds like a plan." Buffy agreed. "Dawn's already had her costume for weeks. She's going with her friend Janice so I don't have to worry about watching her too, thank God."

…

Tara searched through the prepackaged costumes and assorted components trying to find something that wasn't too far from normal clothing. The hospital scrubs were cute, but had short sleeves so were no good. Eventually she found a beige trench coat with a private investigator badge sewn to it and decided that was as mundane an outfit as she would find at Ethan's. She held up the coat for Xander, who was holding a plastic gun he'd picked out.

"What do you think?" Tara asked holding it front of her. "I-is it too much?"

"Pretty swanky." He said eying it. "Add a fedora and you'll have all kind of classy dames asking you to help them out of a bind."

Tara's face flushed with embarrassment. Xander's playful attitude was still taking some getting used to. "I don't think so. A fedora w-would push the costume over into "notice me" territory, and I'm trying to avoid that."

"Well uh, I'm not going to judge, but being the only girl not trying to be noticed on Halloween might make you more noticeable." Xander shrugged. "Or not. You could see if they have any chameleon costumes, you can just blend in with your surroundings."

They went to find Willow and Buffy. The Slayer tried to apologize for stopping Larry, but Xander was hesitant at first. He was about to accept her apology when Buffy got distracted by an 18th century ball gown. The store owner gave her a good deal when he saw how enamored she was with it and they all made their purchases. Willow explained to Tara that Buffy was trying to be more like the girls Angel knew back in his day, and they agreed to meet at the Summers home before going to pick up the kids.

…

Willow squirmed uncomfortably as she looked in the mirror at the "costume" Buffy had put together for her. She tried to put on the ghastly ghost sheet but Buffy pulled it away from her.

"Wow. You're a dish. I mean, really." Her best friend assured her.

"But…" Willow tried to cover her chest with her arms. "This just isn't me."

"And that's the point." Buffy stood behind Willow to force the redhead to look in the mirror. "Look, Halloween is the night that not you is you, but not you. You know?" The doorbell rang. "Oh! That's the gang. Are you ready?"

"Yeah… Okay." She said hesitantly.

"Cool. I can't wait for the boys to go nonverbal when they see you." The Slayer went down the stairs to answer the door. Tara came in wearing her trench coat, hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Hey." Tara looked over the red ball gown. "Wow, that does look really great on you. I'm sure Angel w-will…"

She was struck speechless as Willow descended the steps. Buffy had dressed her in a leather skirt, a matching choker and boots, and the bare expanse of her legs was covered in fishnet stockings. Her red hair was pulled back, her face framed by strategically loose strands. The piece d' resistance was the crimson top which left next to nothing to the imagination, exposing the girl's toned stomach and highlighting her petite cleavage.

For the first time Willow recognized what she was seeing in Tara's eyes. It may have just been the power of the racy clothes she had been forced into, but it was obvious her mentor was finding her appearance hot. She was the tiniest bit embarrassed, but more than that she felt… flattered. She paused on the stairs, waiting for Tara to say something.

Buffy noticed Tara's tongue tied state and looked between the two witches. _Right, not just the boys who are going to go non-verbal,_ the Slayer thought in amusement. "So Xander should be here soon…"

_Xander! Crap! _Willow thought in a panic. She rushed back into Buffy's room, and once she was out of sight Tara came back to her senses.

"I s-saw him… Xander!" The boy in question had just arrived. Tara moved aside to let him in.

"Private Harris, reporting for duty. Tara, you're looking sharp." He pulled a fedora off the tip of his gun where it had been hanging. "Brought this for you in case you changed your mind." Tara shook her head and took it, placing it on an end table. Xander turned to take in Buffy's 18th century attire. "Buffy. Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe. I completely renounce spandex."

"Thank you kind sir." Buffy said with a curtsey, and Xander bowed to her in return. "But wait till you see…" They heard footsteps and looked up to see Willow coming down in the ghost outfit.

"Hi." Her voice was muffled by the fabric.

"Casper." Buffy said, disappointed.

"Hey, Will! That's… a fine 'Boo!' you got there." Xander said awkwardly as Willow came down the rest of the stairs.

The ghost girl let out a small sigh as they left for the high school. Tara gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Even wearing that outfit for a second was way more audacious than she could ever dream of being. She just hoped she'd be able to keep the image of racy Willow out of her head well enough to keep an eye on the children in her care tonight.

…

Around six o'clock the scheduled trick-or-treating was winding down. Tara hadn't had to corral the kids much; they knew the routine and were eager to get to as many houses as they could. They were crossing the street to make a final stop before she dropped them off at the school when a strong wind picked up. The children began to scatter, and before she could call out to them Tara's mind went blank. When she came back, she realized to her amazement that she was no longer alone. Someone else was driving.

…

The detective looked around the street, taking in the details of the chaos unfolding before her. It was Halloween night judging by the decorations. There were children screaming and running for cover, and in several yards she could see what should be other costumed candy seekers but looked nightmarishly real. She saw a tiny demon smash in a window, a skeleton climbing over a fence, and a pair of little vampires chasing down a child in a super hero cape who suddenly moved too fast for them to catch.

The woman tried to remember how she'd arrived in this inexplicable situation. Had she been on a case, investigating the cause of this bizarreness? There was nothing, not even her own name. Maybe she'd been drugged, and this was all a hallucination.

"Tara!" A girl of high school age in a leopard print unitard and cat ears ran up to her. "Oh God, you need to do something, make with your black arts or whatever. There's this big hairy sasquatch thing after me and all the kids have gone crazy…"

"Slow down Michelle Pfeiffer. Who's Tara and what do you mean black arts?" The girl was near hysterics, and clearly wouldn't be much good for questioning.

"What?" The girl said in surprise. "You're Tara, except you seem to have gotten an extra scoop of self confidence in your corn flakes this morning." The detective considered. The cat girl could be telling the truth since she recognized her, and it wasn't as if _she_ remembered her name. The girl sighed in exasperation. "Look we don't have time, that Chewbacca thing is going to eat us if we don't… Ahhh!" With that she took off down the street. The P.I. saw the 'sasquatch' and decided to abandon contemplation of these mysterious events in favor of running after the cat.

Further down the street they came to a man in army fatigues holding a machine gun.

"Xander! Help me!" The cat girl yelled.

"Come inside." The soldier said and led them into a nearby house.

"Tara! And Cordelia!" A red-haired girl in a crazily sexy outfit exclaimed as they came inside.

Willow had been praying Tara was safe and was hoping that somehow she'd retained her memories and could come up with some spell to reverse the transformations, or at least find the cause. She was lucky she'd managed to get Lady Buffy and Private Harris to follow her to the Summers' house in the first place.

The detective took the girl's words as confirmation that she was indeed named Tara. "So you know me too. You know anything about how this all went down? I'm thinking we've been drugged."

"Yeah Willow, what's going on?" Cordelia chimed in.

"Okay," Willow began, addressing Tara first, "Your name is…"

"Tara." She cut her off. "And I'm a woman, probably a high school student, who's lost her memory. You and the kitty girl both know me, though I think I'm not as close with her." Willow gaped. "Well obviously, you both agree my name is Tara, and you're both panicking and have no reason to lie to me. You're in high school, and since we're on a first name basis I'm guessing I go to school with the two of you."

"Yes!" Willow said excitedly. This Tara would be much quicker on the uptake than the helpless Buffy. "And you're not just a high school student either. You're a witch, in fact we're both witches," Buffy shrieked a little at the word 'witches', looking in terror between Willow and Tara, "But you just started training me so…" She waved her hand, cutting off her own babble. "That's not important. We're not on drugs, this is something magickal."

"Magic?" That was a bit much to swallow. "You expect me to believe in magic? Where's your evidence?"

"What else do you think caused all this?" Willow said desperately. "Those demons that are running all amucky out there? They're not hallucinations."

"No kidding!" Cordelia said showing off a large rip in her spotted unitard. "I was attacked by Jo-Jo the Dog-faced Boy. Look at my costume! Do you really think that Party Town's going to give me my deposit back? Not on the likely." Xander took off his jacket.

"Here." He said as he put the jacket over Cordelia's shoulders.

"Thanks." She said, taking a second to admire Xander's arms.

"I can show you magic is real, take my…" Willow tried to take Tara's hand but it passed through. "Hand, except you can't, because I'm a ghost now, damn it."

Tara shook her head. "If you are a hallucination you're a much nicer one than that furry beast outside." Willow blushed when she saw dark blue eyes look at her with smoldering heat. She snapped herself out of the grip of Tara's lusty gaze and tried to come up with a plan. Giles, Giles wasn't in costume. He could still help.

"Okay." Willow said looking away from Tara's eyes. "You guys stay here while I get some help. If something tries to get in, just fight it off."

"It's not our place to fight. Surely some men will protect us?" Buffy said frightfully.

"What's _that_ riff?" Cordy asked.

Tara scoffed. "Lady, you should know better than to count on men for anything. You want something done right, you need a woman's touch."

"It's like amnesia, okay?" Willow answered Cordelia's question. "They don't know who they are. Just… sit tight." She looked at Tara for a lingering moment before leaving the house through a wall. She hoped her friends would stay safe until she and Giles sorted it out.

"Who died and made her the boss?" Cordelia said, miffed.

"Woman like that can boss me around any time." Tara said picking up a fedora from the end table Xander was adding to his barricade of the front door. Cordy quirked an eyebrow, not sure what to make of that. "Anyone have a cigarette?"

…

Giles threw his reference cards up in the air when Willow walked in. After attempting to research the subject, their conversation led them to figure out the difference between Cordelia and the others; where they had purchased their costumes. Giles and Willow went inside Ethan's and looked around for some sign of the owner. It didn't take long for Willow to find it.

"Giles?" She said looking through the open door to the back room.

They went into the room to inspect the two faced statue.

"Janus. A Roman mythical god." Giles explained.

"What does this mean?" Willow asked, having only heard the name.

"Primarily the division of self. Male and female, light and dark."

"Chunky and creamy." An amused voice called to them. "Oh, no. Sorry. That's peanut butter." The store owner approached them, wearing deep red robes.

"Willow get out of here now." The Watcher said in a low tone, staring the man down.

"But…" Willow protested.

"Now!" His voice was firmer than she'd ever heard it. She left, knowing she wouldn't be much good to him in ghost form.

…

Willow found the gang in an alley, Buffy cowering in the back being reassured by Cordelia. Angel had joined them at some point, and there was a pirate who looked somewhat familiar slumped against the alley wall.

"Guys!" She called to get their attention. On her way to them she had seen Spike leading a small cadre of transformed monsters, and they'd be on her friends in a moment.

"Willow!" Angel responded.

"Guys, you gotta get inside." Willow said desperately.

"We need a triage." Xander said eying the oncoming creatures.

"This way. Find an open warehouse." Angel instructed them.

Xander rushed forth. "Ladies, we're on the move."

Angel carried Buffy who was too frazzled to get to her own feet. He led them to a door and they filed inside. The vampire set Buffy down next to Cordelia.

"Just stay here." He said gently.

Xander and Tara began to barricade the door with shipping pallets while Buffy clung to Cordy. It wasn't enough and Spike's squad broke through. Xander shouted for a retreat and they made a break for the far side of the warehouse. Willow could only watch in dismay as her friends were captured by the demons and the bleached blonde took his time approaching the powerless Slayer.

"Look at you. You're shaking. Terrified. Alone. Lost little lamb." He slapped her face. "I love it."

"Buffy!" Angel called out as he struggled to get free.

Buffy cried and cowered as Spike took her by the throat. He gently put a hand on her head as he lowered her onto a pallet. Xander and Tara shared a look of resolve and broke out of the demons' grips. They began beating the monsters as Spike leaned down to drink Buffy.

"Now that guy you _can_ shoot." Willow said emphatically to Xander. He aimed his gun but when he had Spike in his sights it was plastic again.

"What the…"

"I'm scared. I want my mommy." Tara heard the child's voice and it snapped her out of her disorientation. She kneeled down to comfort the child while they all adjusted to being back in control of their bodies.

Spike looked at the mass of black hair in his hand. It was a wig. Buffy sprang to her feet.

"Hi honey. I'm home." The Slayer said with a bounce and began whaling on Spike. He took a swing at her with a bar, but she grabbed it and smacked him in the gut with it. "You know what? It's good to be me." She smacked him again and he fell back on the pallet then slumped to the floor.

Spike got to his feet with a growl and ran off. Tara tried to calm the children while the others talked. Angel and Buffy went off together to Cordelia's disappointment.

"Hello? It felt like I was talking. My lips were moving, and…"

"Give it up Cordy." Xander said sadly. "You're never gonna get between those two. Believe me, I know."

The cheerleader looked at the restored trick-or-treaters. "Well, I guess you better get them back to their parents."

Tara ran over to them. "W-where's Willow?"

Xander looked around. "I don't know."

"I-I'm going to find her." The witch said before looking back at the kids guiltily. "Can you…?"

"Affirmative." Xander said with a salute of his toy gun.

…

Tara felt like she had searched every street in the neighborhood by the time she caught sight of Willow. She was strutting down the street without a care. A zebra striped van had come to a complete stop and stayed there for a good few minutes while Tara rushed over. She remembered she was still wearing the fedora, but decided to keep it on.

"Willow!"

"We really need to stop being so surprised the other one lived." The redhead said with a grin.

Tara couldn't help but laugh as they fell into step beside each other. "I-I'll stop being surprised when I stop worrying." She forced her eyes not to stray below Willow's face. "Um, are you cold? Y-you can have my coat."

"I'm good." The younger girl said confidently.

It had been a strange night. She had watched as her body was piloted by the detective, wishing she could say something or try a spell to help. It had been so bizarre to see Xander deadly serious and Buffy cowardly. But it had been special to see Willow take charge when she was the only woman standing, even more impressive than seeing her in the knock out get up.

For two months she had been trying to define what she felt for Willow. She knew she was the first friend she had made in years, and the truest one she had ever had. She was a brilliant student and was destined to be an amazingly powerful witch. She made her feel safe even when they were in mortal peril. Tara had been calling her feelings a crush, an idle attraction. Now she knew the truth. She was completely, head over heels in love.


	6. Meeting the family

Author's Notes: Boris Yeltsin: Hope that's a good holy moly. :D

Missocki: Glad you liked it! I was worried it was a bit much, but it was fun to have a bolder personality in Tara's shell for a while.

Shammy: Thank you. I'm trying to balance getting the chapters out in a timely fashion with making sure they're of good quality, so sorry if things take a while.

LEDlorien7: I always enjoy reading your reviews. Thank you so much. I've gone back and edited chapters three and five a bit with your suggestions in mind.

Dirty Tube Socks: To each their own. If you prefer the later seasons I am planning on doing a Season Three sequel and taking it from there. I don't think she ever did get that cigarette…

Chapter Six: Meeting the family

It was the morning of November first, and Tara was making breakfast for the family with her mother's supervision. There was a lot to look forward to today; her father was leaving for a company conference in Berkley in the afternoon, so she'd have a few days of peace at home. She knew he'd be expecting Donny to keep a close eye on them while he was away, but lately her brother had been staying out as much as he could. Tonight was also Samhain, so she and her mother would get to share time honoring the spirits of the departed and celebrating the turning of the seasons.

Tara had been keeping her mother informed of her extracurricular activities since joining up with Buffy and the others, if downplaying the dangers they faced. Eileen was concerned for her daughter's safety of course, but trusted her and was glad experienced people were around to look out for her. Tara had always been forthcoming with Eileen about her developing friendships and her tutoring of Willow, but she hadn't ever broached the subject of her crush. After last night's realization, she felt the need for some advice. This was the first time she'd ever had feelings this strong, let alone a close friendship for them to jeopardize.

"Mom, do you think it's wrong to really, really like someone and not tell them?" Tara asked as she moved the eggs around the pan with her spatula.

"Well, why do you think it would be wrong?" Eileen asked back as she poured orange juice into their glasses. She always encouraged her children to think things out for themselves before having some else tell them what was best. Tara appreciated that; being allowed to make up her own mind was a sharp contrast to the way her father laid out his black and white ideas of right and wrong.

"Because they might not act the same around me if they knew."

"Is this someone Willow?" Her mother asked with a knowing glance. Tara nodded. She was sure she gave off signs of liking the girl in her voice and body language when she talked about Willow. They would be obvious to someone who knew Tara so well. "Why would she act differently if she knew you really liked her?"

Tara sighed, grinding a small bit of pepper into the eggs as they cooked. "She probably wouldn't touch me as much. I mean, I thought she might stop after I told her I liked girls, but she didn't. I, I feel like it's taking advantage of her to let her touch me when I wish it could mean more."

"Sweetie, it's not taking advantage of her. Some people just like hugging their friends. And you'd never pressure her into anything more if she doesn't want to be with you that way, would you?"

"Gods no!" She said looking at her mother in horror for a few seconds before the sizzling sound from the pan reminded her to flip the eggs. "I-I would never…"

"I know you wouldn't," Eileen said reassuringly, "So there's nothing to worry about. If you don't expect anything of her but friendship, then I don't think Willow minds being close with you." She put the juice carton back in the refrigerator and looked back at Tara with a small grin. "What would you do if she did like you back?"

"Oh that would never happen." Tara said shaking her head. "She likes Xander."

In a few minutes breakfast was done and Tara's father came in, opening the newspaper as he sat down at the table. Tara set out four plates, though she suspected Donny wouldn't be down until lunch as late as he'd been out partying. Donald grumbled as he read the front page article.

"They're blaming all that madness last night on drug gangs and a gas leak causing hallucinations." He said with a scoff. "The people in this town, they're all naïve sheep. One of our tellers was found in his backyard with a punctured neck, and my assistant manager tried to tell me it was from falling down on some rocks after a heart attack. The impudence of that man, to tell me such nonsense straight to my face."

Tara and Eileen had been quiet as they joined him, but today silence evidently wasn't a satisfactory response. Tara found her father staring at her as she cut into her scrambled eggs with the side of her fork. "Do you know anything about that insanity that went on? The people acting like monsters?" She looked down at her plate, unsure of how to respond. "Have you been toying with something dangerous Tara?"

"N-no sir." She said in what she hoped was a loud enough voice he wouldn't chide her for mumbling.

"Tara, give me some face." He demanded as he often did when his daughter wouldn't give him eye contact. "Are you lying to me? Have you been casting some kind of transformation spells?"

"N-n-no." Her father was still glaring her down, waiting for more from her. "I-it was the costume shop. E-everyone who, acted strange was w-wearing a costume from Ethan's. Th-that might have c-caused it, maybe. I don't know."

"Hmph." He took a sip of his juice. "So you say. We'll see if you're telling the truth. Once we're done eating."

"Don…" Eileen said worriedly. "I'm sure she didn't have anything to do with it. You don't need to…"

"If she didn't, then she has nothing to worry about." Donald said firmly. "Besides, it's been too long since we spent time quelling your demon. We mustn't neglect our precautions."

Tara and Eileen barely touched their food, their stomachs having gone queasy.

…

Monday morning came, and Willow was excited to go meet with Tara after their odd adventure on Halloween. Her excitement faded when she found her friend opening her locker, looking like death warmed over. She was hunched over and had dark bags under her eyes. Tara was looking at the floor as she left her locker for their classroom and almost bumped into her.

"Hey Tara." The older girl looked up, the normal smile Willow's presence put on her face absent. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I-I'm fine, I'm just, really tired." Tara could tell Willow didn't quite buy that, but the younger girl didn't dig any further.

"We um, missed you at the Bronze on Saturday. I told Buffy and Xander you were ringing in the New Year with your mom." Normally she would have asked how it went, but it was clear the weekend hadn't been kind to her. She wasn't sure how to suss out the details. There were always certain things Tara got sensitive talking about. For now she decided to change the subject. "Are we still on for this afternoon?"

"I um, I'm not sure…" Tara wasn't in the mood for magic lessons, but she didn't want to disappoint Willow. She didn't feel like what they were doing was evil, but she was always hesitant to do any magic after a session of 'quelling the demon'. She'd need to come up with some excuse if Willow pressed her.

Fortunately, the redhead had caught on to her reluctance and wasn't going to push. "It's fine if you don't want to. I know I've been dragging you along to my house like every other day for a month now, being all needy." Tara felt a twinge of guilt and frowned. Willow took this as a sign her mentor was in fact weary of spending so much time teaching her. "I-I hope you don't think I just keep you around for the spells and everything. I mean, I really like just talking, and hanging out with you and stuff."

Tara's face softened. The younger girl was blaming herself, and given the distant way Tara was treating her it was no surprise. "I know that." She said kindly, a sad half smile on her lips. She sighed, looking back to the floor for a second. "And I-I like coming over for spells."

Willow let out a huge breath in relief. "Good. But it doesn't have to be this afternoon. We can just meet up whenever you're feeling better, not that I want to assume, you just, I mean…. I-if you wanted some time alone…" She offered, hoping it wasn't the case but willing to give her friend space if that's what she needed.

Part of Tara did want to be alone, but another part of her wanted the comfort of Willow's company, spells or no spells. "We can still get together today if you want." She swallowed, considering how to phrase her request. "M-my father is out of town on a business trip, so we could go to my house."

Willow pondered Tara's statement for a moment. There was always that uneasiness when Tara mentioned her father, and apparently his absence was a factor in whether Tara felt comfortable having Willow over. She had never suggested it before, and now the hacker was suspecting there was some deeper reason for that. Her curiosity was compelling her to pry for more information, but she fought those urges down. "I'd like that. What about your mom, is she going to be there?"

"Y-yeah. I, really want you to meet her." Tara admitted. "Um, you should know, my mom has, c-cancer." Willow's eyes widened in sympathy. "She's getting treatment, so she's going to be okay and everything, but, the chemo makes her really w-weak, and she wears a head scarf. Just, you know, so you know."

"Oh of course, I would never stare or say anything rude." Willow said emphatically. "Wow, I'm sorry to hear that she's sick, but good that she's getting treated and everything. Did it make moving hard?"

"Actually it's one of the reasons we moved here." Tara said as they started to walk to class. "Her o-oncologist, he treated my great-aunt Lynn back when he was in Huntsville. He's known our family for years, and the practice he works at now isn't too far from town." And that was definitely a benefit her father appreciated: a doctor who knew about the special condition of the women in their family and could keep the secret.

…

The Maclay house seemed like an average suburban dwelling, though it had a carved turnip hanging by the front door in addition to the yet to be discarded pumpkin. Tara led them inside and into the living room where her mother was sitting reading. "Hi Mom." Eileen smiled at the girls as she placed her book in her lap. "This is Willow."

"Hi Mrs. Maclay." There was a strong resemblance between mother and daughter, though the older woman was much gaunter and had sharper, more angular features. The scarf obscured her hair, and her eyebrows had faded to almost nothing so Willow couldn't tell if they shared a hair color. Her eyes were just as blue though. "I really like your house." The woman definitely had an eye for the artistic, having decorated almost every wall with intriguing paintings, photos and even a few hand sewn quilts. The chairs and sofa had tasseled blankets draped over their backs, making the room even cozier looking.

"Thank you." Willow noticed Eileen holding out her hand for her to shake and rushed over to take it, not wanting to force her to get up from the armchair. She could feel a static jolt from the older witch's power. It was different from Tara's, stronger yet lacking the prickling she had come to associate with magic. Eileen glanced between the girl and her daughter, an inscrutable expression on her face. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Good things I hope." She joked nervously. "I've heard a lot about you too."

The older woman nodded softly. "Tara tells me she's been teaching you some of the craft. She wasn't exaggerating about your power."

The young girl tried not to blush. She still didn't feel powerful. "I don't know. Every new thing I learn just shows me how much more there is to know." And she wanted to know it all.

"She's a really good student." Tara said taking a seat on the sofa. Willow hesitated a second before sitting beside her. "In just a few months she'll probably be able to make the tinkerbell lights."

"So you've said." Eileen said with a smile. "I'd like to see what you've learned some time. Maybe I could even show you a few things." Willow's eyes brightened. "Not spells, I'm afraid I can't actually cast much these days. But it's also important to know how to focus, and control the energy inside of you. If you don't, it can get wild and manifest in dangerous ways, especially in someone with as much raw strength as you."

There was a hint of warning in the witch's tone, and for the first time Willow was frightened of the magic inside her. Maybe she hadn't been taking it seriously enough.

"We were actually taking a little break from spells today mom." No further explanation was necessary; they both knew why Tara didn't want to do magic for a while. Instead the three talked about what the girls were learning in school, the stories behind the different pieces of art in the house, and the usefulness of different kinds of meditation. After an hour Eileen insisted that Willow stay for dinner, and the redhead agreed as long as she could help with the cooking to repay them for their hospitality. The Maclay women's supervision kept her from creating any major disasters in the kitchen and the meal was ready before Donny came back from practice.

The senior was surprised to see that his sister had company and didn't waste any time ribbing her.

"So you all hang out in the library a lot, with the blonde chick and that big goofball, Harris?" He asked rhetorically. "That's more people than you met at our last high school Tare."

Willow looked awkwardly at the siblings, not sure if this was playful teasing or actual mocking. The two barely ever spoke in school and Tara didn't talk much about him.

"I think it's great you all study together." Eileen said, which Tara was sure was an effort to cover up the real reason for the gang's frequent meetings. "It's good to take an active approach to your schooling like that."

"Yeah, I hear you're a regular bookworm. Some kind of computer genius?" Donny asked Willow.

"I know my way around a hexadecimal code." She agreed. "And you're on the wrestling team, right?"

"Right you are. So that Harris boy, if he ever tries anything with you Tara, you just tell him your big brother's gonna beat him down." Willow's eyebrows shot up, wondering if he was serious.

Tara knew that he was. No boys had ever gotten close to her before, but Donny has always said anyone who tried to touch her would have to answer to him. It was pretty damn hypocritical of him, she thought bitterly, considering he already hurt her plenty on his own, though not the way he was offering to protect her from.

"Xander's a s-sweetie." Tara said with a bit of embarrassment.

"I've known him since we were in preschool, he'd never do anything like that." Willow said defensively, not wanting another jock looking to mess with Xander.

The rest of dinner passed somewhat tensely, Eileen trying to temper Donny's teasing and make her daughter's friend feel welcome. Willow and Tara cleaned up the dishes once they were done eating and went to Tara's room to finish their homework. Tara promised to show Willow her collection of artifacts and spellbooks the next time she came over, though she knew she'd have to plan it carefully to keep it secret, like her own practice sessions with her mother. Willow was pleased to notice her friend's mood had lifted over the course of the day, and when she left they both had smiles and a light feeling in their hearts.

…

The next few days were rough on Buffy and the Scoobies. First the Slayer saw Angel in a graveyard with a mysterious dark haired woman, who they later learned was a vampire named Drusilla, a lover of Spike's. Ford, a friend of Buffy's from L.A. also arrived, having apparently transferred to their school. Unfortunately, nothing was as simple as it seemed. Angel didn't trust Ford and asked Willow to look him up online. The boy turned out not to have any school records transferred to Sunnydale High. Tara, Xander and Willow all accompanied Angel to a place called the Sunset Club to learn more about Ford. The club was full of young people desiring to be turned into vampires.

There was also more to Drusilla's story. Drusilla was a childe of Angel's, having been turned only after he drove her to insanity. Buffy confronted Angel about her, and in the end she decided she loved him, but she didn't know if she could trust him. The souled vampire told her about their visit to the club, and the Slayer was angry at all of them for going behind her back. It wasn't nearly as angry as she ended up being at Ford. She discovered he was willing to sacrifice all the other club goers' lives for the chance to be sired by Spike. In the end Buffy had to take Drusilla hostage to get Spike to let them all go. The vampire's love was strong enough that he didn't hesitate to free the humans. By the time the Scoobies and Angel came to rescue Buffy, she had already gotten out, leaving only Ford with the vampiric pair.

The following night Buffy and Giles watched over Ford's grave, staking the demon that arose riding his corpse. She was depressed the next morning and confided in Willow and Tara about the story behind her former friend's desperation. They both comforted her about her loss, but Buffy was also unsure if it was okay to be angry at someone she was grieving for.

"He was dying of cancer," Buffy said, wishing she didn't have any sympathy for Ford's dilemma. "He wanted a way out, no matter what it cost him or anyone else. I want to just hate him, but it's not that simple."

"People do a lot of crazy things to stay alive." Willow said. "It's hard for me to imagine what that was like for him, knowing he was going to die." Buffy shuffled, trying not to think about the prophecy about her and Master and how that had made her feel.

"It's horrible. That kind of s-sickness, it could drive anyone to do some awful things. Even so, l-letting a whole club full of people die, nothing could make that okay." Tara said. She knew she was being judgmental of Ford, but to her the line he had crossed was very clear. "I've thought about using the energy of the Hellmouth to help my mother, but she said no. There's always a choice."

"Exactly." Buffy said, reassured that it was okay to be angry with him.

…

Tara and Willow decided to make Saturday their day for lessons at Willow's and Monday their day at Tara's, leaving the rest of the week open for regular hanging out at home or the Bronze, studying, Dawn duty, and of course impromptu slaying research. Eileen taught Willow about the Tarot, which Willow was interested to learn had started as a simple card game and only later had been adapted for mystic purposes. Again, it turned out to be a story, the spiritual journey of the Fool through the major arcana. Both the Maclay women were great storytellers. The only thing Willow had found difficult about magic so far was the meditation. Clearing her busy mind was no small feat, and one she often failed at.

One thought that occupied her mind was the idea that she should reciprocate Tara's friendliness and introduce her to her parents. It was an odd notion; after all her parents had never taken an interest in who her friends were, or much else about her for that matter. Something was special about Tara though, and she didn't want Tara to think she was hiding her from them. She invited her over for Wednesday night, a day she knew they would be at least be home for dinner.

Tara was slightly anxious, wanting to make a good impression on the Rosenbergs. They watched television as they waited, not wanting to be interrupted in the middle of casting a spell and be discovered.

"So what do your parents do exactly?" Tara asked. "I know they're out o-of town a lot, at seminars and things, but what for?"

"They're both research social psychologists." Willow answered. "They give a lot of lectures and try to get as many continuing education credits as they can." She saw the questioning look on Tara's face and elaborated. "You have to get a certain number of credits each year by taking classes to stay licensed. At conferences they're usually taking and teaching a several classes each."

"Wow. What kind of things do they research?"

"My mom's writing a paper on teenage peer group dynamics right now." Willow said with a scornful laugh. "And this is the first time they've had dinner with one of my peers since I was eight."

"They kn-know I'm going to be here, right?" Willow could hear the light panic in her voice and put her hand over the blonde's.

"I told them. I can't promise they'll remember I told them, but I did warn them, so they'll only have themselves to blame if they don't know."

Willow followed Tara's gaze to their still touching hands. She hadn't let go, and she realized that she didn't want to.

Tara's heart was pumping faster by the second. This was the first time Willow had held her hand outside of spellcasting, and it still overwhelmed her. She looked up shyly, wondering when Willow was going to take back her hand.

Their eyes met and suddenly Willow's mouth felt very dry. Tara looked nervous, but wasn't pulling away. _Is… something happening here? _Willow wondered. She opened her lips to speak, babbling being her natural response to any tense situation but couldn't come up with any words. The girls were too distracted to hear the door being unlocked, not realizing Willow's parents had come home until they heard the sound of Sheila Rosenberg's voice.

"Willow?" Sheila seemed to be confused by the presence of other teenager in her living room. Willow gave Tara's hand a squeeze before releasing it, turning to face her parents. The squeeze made Tara's heart do an extra jump before her pulse settled back into an anxious pace from meeting new people. Both the Rosenbergs were a bit taller than their daughter, and it seemed Willow got her hair from her mother and her features from her father.

"Hi mom, dad. This is Tara, from school." Ira nodded at the girls before going to hang up his jacket. Tara greeted them with a 'hi' and a wave, but they were barely acknowledged by Sheila, who was getting a folder from a kitchen cabinet.

"Hello. You're in a study group with Willow, is that right?" Ira asked. Willow heartened at him at least remembering that much. She nodded.

"She's in my college prep class too."

"That's great. Have you thought about where you might be applying Tara?" He asked taking a seat across from the girls. The question threw Tara a little. She had hoped she'd be able to get as far away from her father and brother as possible after graduation, but that was all contingent on her being able to earn a scholarship, Donald not wanting to pay for her to leave them. There was also the chance that her mother wouldn't be well enough after her treatment to take care of herself and two men and need Tara to stay with them, in which case she wouldn't be going to college at all.

"I-I've thought about going somewhere small. There's a college called Beloit in Wisconsin that's supposed to be really good." She replied.

"Willow's aiming for MIT." Ira said with a small hint of pride in his voice.

"Dad, I don't know that yet." Willow protested. "I'm not even sure what I want to study."

"Well computer science, obviously. You spend so much time playing with your computers, don't tell me you weren't going to put that to some use?"

"Yes Willow, it's the information age." Sheila agreed. "You'll need to understand technology if you want to keep up, no matter what career you have." The older redhead pulled out a menu from the folder. "What do you think about Chinese Ira?"

"Sounds excellent." It seemed her father was off again in his on again, off again attempts to keep kosher. He was usually enthusiastic for a few weeks, trying to make as many meals at home as possible before inevitably he'd get too busy and tired to bother and just order delivery. Sunnydale was of course, so small that it only had the one synagogue and a single kosher deli so Ira would end up off the wagon.

"Are you staying for dinner Terry?" Sheila asked going over to the phone.

"Um, i-if that's okay." Tara said trying not to squirm.

Willow frowned at her mother. "Her name is Tara, mom. With an 'a'."

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Willow sighed.

Dinner was eaten in the living room over the sounds of the national news. Ira commented on the current events being reported while Sheila complained about the lack of rigor on the part of the journalists and the bias towards sensationalism. Tara guessed they were all right people; they clearly cared about the world they lived in. It was a shame that they didn't seem to take as much interest in their daughter, but that wasn't nearly as bad as other family situations. They did seem to care about Willow at least, they were just kind of clueless about how to connect with her. When Tara weighed Willow's home life it against her own, she did wonder for a moment if it would be worth giving up her close bond with her mother to get away from her father. It didn't matter in the end. However she felt about her family, it was the one she was stuck with.

…

Thursday afternoon Willow, Tara and Buffy filed out of the school and through the parking lot. Willow was surprised to see Tara go up to a Chevy station wagon and unlock the door.

"You drove?" She asked. "I thought you walked to school?"

"Oh." Tara remembered that they hadn't seen her leave for one of her tri-weekly appointments. "I do. I live close enough I can walk, but I have to go pick up my mom this afternoon. For chemo." She added quietly.

"I didn't know you had your license." Buffy said, a little envious.

"Just my learner's… technically I'm not supposed to be driving w-without a licensed driver. Don't tell anyone?" Tara joked tentatively.

"My lips are sealed," Buffy agreed. "Is your brother not coming?"

"No." Tara answered, secretly grateful for the fact. "He-he came to the first two, but then he stopped."

Willow frowned, thinking that was unforgivably cold of him. Tara herself couldn't decide if Donny had stopped coming because he was too bored to stay or if it actually bothered him to see his mother lying helpless while she was pumped full of chemicals. In either case, Tara was fine with it being just the two of them. Willow wasn't as okay with that.

"Would it be crazy if I, we," Willow corrected herself, not wanting to exclude Buffy, "Came to see her too? If it wouldn't be imposing or anything?"

Tara opened and closed her mouth a few times in shock. Buffy smiled, liking the idea. "I mean, it would have to be okay with your mom too, of course…" Willow continued.

"I uh, I don't know. I-I'd have to ask her." Tara said nervously. This was way more than she could ask of them. "It's not that exciting, we usually just r-read something together, or um, I read to her while she rests. You m-might be bored."

"Your mom's not boring." Willow insisted. "And maybe I can take a turn reading."

"I'd like to meet her. We can at least come to say hi to her before you guys go to the clinic." Buffy suggested.

"O-okay." Tara's friends hopped into her backseat and she drove them the short distance to the Maclay household.

Eileen was more than happy to have the extra company, and the four women passed the time chatting and joking, the therapy session being over before Tara knew it. She felt blessed to have such caring friends.

…

That night Willow was still trying to figure what had happened between her and Tara on Wednesday. Seeing Tara with her mother stirred even more feelings in her. Tara was just about the sweetest, most compassionate person she had ever met.

She had thought touching Tara just excited her because they were joining their magic, but the more she thought about it the more she realized the touching itself was plenty to get her worked up. Willow had no idea what that meant. She'd never felt this way about another girl, not anyone really. She wasn't sure if it meant she was attracted to Tara. The little witch imagined what it would be like to really touch her, to feel her skin, and it was a lovely feeling. But it was all hypothetical. The real thing could be completely different.

Willow wondered how on Earth she could know if she was really capable of having romantic feelings for a girl, if her emotions and urges meant she really was gay or bi. Unfortunately the only person Willow knew who had any experience with that kind of thing was the person who was causing her to question herself in the first place. As close as they had gotten, Willow didn't know if asking about sexuality was too personal a topic to bring up with Tara. She also didn't know if Tara was even interested in being in a relationship at all, let alone with someone inexperienced and spazzy like her.

By the time she fell asleep Willow decided she'd take her time to figure out where her orientation lied before making any rash decisions. Until then, maybe she could just subtly question Tara about how she had discovered she was gay and if she was interested in dating anyone. That way even if she didn't want to be with Willow, or if Willow was reading too much into her own emotions their friendship wouldn't be hurt.

…

Author's (Other) Notes: Donny's behavior may not be what you'd expect in this chapter. From his perspective, what he does is to protect his sister and mother, and in his own twisted way he does care about them.

Donald Maclay has at least some knowledge that the supernatural exists, being the husband and father of women who come from a long line of spellcasters. There will be more about what "quelling the demon" entails in future chapters.


	7. Anywhere but here

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay, I originally wanted to have this up by Thanksgiving but real life reared its ugly head. Holiday break is coming up, so I'll try and post a lot of updates between December 21st and January 2nd.

Boris Yeltsin: That's a big part of the main plot, and if I can keep on schedule I should be up to that point before the New Year.

Missocki: The Maclay men will get their comeuppance, but things are going to get worse before they get better. And the girls will get together, but not right away. There'll be a little bit of progress to both each chapter.

Evil4Dummies: I might have to twist things around to make it happen, but I promise we'll get to see vampire Willow. They'll be a couple by the time she shows up though. It should be quite fun to write.

Dirty Tube Socks: Sorry about making your stomach queasy. Not answering the first inquiry, but as to your second question absolutely yes. They won't spend time as viewpoint characters, but we'll be spending a lot of time with them after the next two chapters.

Is "Dust Up" any good? For some reason I've only caught Amber Benson in roles where her character dies. :\

Chapter Seven: Anywhere but here

"Cordelia too?" Tara asked. Willow was going to be missing their Saturday magic tutoring session to help Miss Calendar catch up some students who were behind in her computer class, apparently including Xander and Cordelia. Tara knew Willow wasn't relishing having to spend time with the cheerleader, but seemed excited about taking on the role of a teacher.

"Yup." Willow confirmed as they walked down the street to their homes. "Sorry our lesson got postponed."

"We'll have plenty of time for those other days." Tara said with a smile. "A-and you'll get to spend time with Xander."

"Yeah, but with him being all cranky from having to come in to school on a Saturday." With her confusion about her feelings for Tara, Willow hadn't even been thinking about Xander romantically recently. "Hey, speaking of wanting to be somewhere else, you never got a turn at "anywhere but here"."

"Oh." Tara had secretly been glad of that, not wanting to mention who she'd most like to be in some exotic location with. "I-I don't know that I'd want to be somewhere with a celebrity. There's no telling what they're like in real life."

"That doesn't matter. It's a fantasy, they can be however you want." The younger girl was actually quite curious as to what her friend's ideal getaway would be. "At least give me a place."

The older witch sighed, guessing it couldn't hurt to give it a try. "Well, I like your idea of Italy." She closed her eyes for a second, trying to picture somewhere peaceful. "But I wouldn't be in a crowded city, I'd be somewhere hilly, with lots of farms and wide open spaces, like Tuscany. Maybe in a nice house somewhere, with a red tiled roof and a patio I could sit on and see for miles around. There'd be no sounds but the animals, and I could watch the whole valley turn different shades of orange and crimson in the sunset."

Willow could almost see the image Tara was describing. It was lovely, and her imagination started filling in the landscape with farm animals. "That sounds amazing." Then Willow's brain betrayed her and plopped a horse onto the scene, and it began trotting up to her with menace in its eyes. She shivered a little and added an imaginary Tara to protect her from the vicious equine. The blonde sent the horse galloping off and Willow was filled with a deep sense of calm. Really, anywhere could be nice if she was there.

…

Even with their magic lessons cancelled, the witches were destined to spend their Saturday together. It started with Buffy's concern about Giles' behavior. The night previous he had missed a vampire raid on a truck delivering blood to the hospital and brushed her off when she confronted him about it. She interrupted Miss Calendar's Saturday computer lesson to ask the techno-pagan if she knew anything about her mentor's odd mood. Her concern was validated when Cordelia told them she'd seen the Watcher being questioned by the police the day before. Willow knew how fond Tara was of the librarian and borrowed Jenny's cell phone to call her. Tara didn't have any more insight into what was going on with the Englishman than the rest of them, but was worried enough to agree to come join them at the school.

The Slayer went to the library to look for him and heard someone lurking in the stacks. The mystery intruder pushed over a bookshelf to try and crush her but she evaded the paper avalanche. It turned out to be Ethan, who they all assumed had skipped town. Buffy began questioning him and the scoundrel claimed to know Giles from "way back". The Slayer called her Watcher on the library's phone, and he didn't rouse himself from his stupor until Buffy mentioned the 'Mark of Eyghon' Ethan had said connected the two men. The call was interrupted when a body smashed through the windows and began lumbering towards them.

When the Scoobies rushed in they found Buffy fighting what seemed to be a zombie. Ethan tried to run past them to escape, but Cordy kicked him in the shin. They sat the warlock in a chair after Buffy kicked the zombie into the library's cage. Giles arrived followed soon after by Tara. Rupert looked at the 'zombie' in horrified recognition. It was Philip, an old friend of Giles and Ethan's. The warlock managed to rile Giles by calling him Ripper. Buffy had to stop her mentor from throwing down with him then and there. She was still far too confused by what was going on.

Before she could get any answers Philip burst free of the cage, knocking Jenny senseless to the floor. The Slayer tried to kick him into submission and dealt a hard blow that sent him reeling back into the door of the cage. The zombie began to almost stammer in its movements, and then dissolved into a puddle of acrid goo. Buffy had no time to relish her victory, as it seemed Ethan had once more gotten away. The blonde ran off in search of her quarry as Giles helped his injured beau to her feet. He soothed Jenny until Buffy returned, empty handed and demanding answers. The other teens were equally curious but happy to let their leader do the confronting.

"Giles, share. What is the Mark of Eyghon?" Buffy demanded.

"Hey!" The Watcher stared at her, wide-eyed and deadly serious. "This is not your battle. As your Watcher, I'm telling you unequivocally to stay out of it." The Slayer could only watch as he stood and declared he was taking Jenny home for rest. After the adults left, Buffy mustered her resolve and did what she knew she had to, orders or no orders.

"We have work to do." She told her friends.

Buffy handed out their assignments, sending Willow to check the internet and Tara and Xander to look through the books for information on the Mark of Eyghon. To Tara's surprise Cordelia was waiting excitedly for instructions after Buffy assigned Xander book duty.

"What about me?" The brunette asked eagerly. "I care about Giles."

"Work with Tara and Xander." Buffy decided.

Cordelia slumped a little, not wanting to be elbow to elbow with the goofy boy. "When I say "care", I mean…"

"Cordelia!" The Slayer was in no mood.

"Okay, okay." Cordy relented.

Tara was quickly able to determine the Etruscan origins of the Mark of Eyghon and began reading the description of the demon it was named for to the others. They learned Eyghon moved by entering the nearest dead or unconscious body, which explained how it had animated Philip's corpse. They all shuddered when they realized their situation: Jenny was possessed. And alone with Giles. Buffy went to go protect him, leaving the others to find a way to free Jenny.

The research had special meaning for Tara. She knew demon blood wasn't the same thing as possession; it was the makeup of her body, the way she had been born. But if there were ways of getting rid of a demonic spirit, maybe they were ways of transforming a demonic body into a human one. She was tempted to ignore Jenny's predicament and take advantage of an unsupervised look at Giles' collection. Her conscience wouldn't let her, but already she was making plans to sneak a look some time soon. She had less than three years to work something out, and the Watcher's tomes were her best chance of avoiding her fate she had found so far.

Eventually Cordelia piped up, having just read that demons could be killed by decapitation. Tara had to stop herself from reflexively reaching for her neck. If she couldn't stop herself from turning into a monster by her twentieth birthday, she might end up losing her mind and go on a murderous spree of her own. Her mother tried so hard to train Tara to control her power and expected her to only use it to help people, but what if she couldn't contain it? She knew she didn't want to stay under her father's brand of control, but what if that was all that was holding her back? She'd just be another beast roaming the Hellmouth. And it would be up to Buffy to take her down. Tara prayed that by helping the Slayer she'd offset the evil she might do in the future. It made her even sicker to think that it would be a friend killing her.

Xander snarked at the cheerleader, being less than amused by Cordelia's decapitation suggestion, considering it would also kill Miss Calendar. Cordy was fed up with Xander's ingratitude towards her whenever she tried to help or be polite, so she bit back, stepping up to get in his face. Neither of them recognized the tension between them for what it was, not yet. Willow was too focused on the danger her grown-up friends were in to notice Tara's distress or the weird heat between her best male friend and the bully. The three other teens all snapped to attention as the tiny hacker raised her voice to bring them back to order. Tara was in awe of take-charge Willow. As Willow took command a plan formed in her overactive brain. There was someone they could call on to help them, someone who was dead, and already had a demon they were used to fighting tagging along inside them.

They managed to track down Angel and he gladly agreed to help them. They arrived at Ethan's shop just in time to rescue Buffy and Giles from Eyghon. The demon left Jenny and tried to take hold of the vampire, but his will was too strong and it was swiftly defeated. Ethan had managed to escape, but Buffy was content to fight him another day if Giles and Jenny were alive. She wasn't too pleased that she'd have to spend her savings removing the tattoo Ethan had given her though.

Everyone was impressed with Willow's ingenious plan, especially Tara. Part of her wondered if she could enlist Willow's help in researching a solution to her demon, but it was overwhelmed by the much larger part of her that knew she had to keep it a secret.

…

When Monday rolled around Tara headed straight for the library to check in with Giles. After the confrontation with Eyghon he'd confessed to all of them about his wild youth, revealing a side of him none of them would have dreamed he possessed. Tara had trouble understanding why someone would willing summon a demon into themselves; it had been gruesome enough just seeing it. Maybe it was different when you were experiencing it yourself, but it was an experience she hoped she could avoid.

The spectacled man was still putting away the last of the books Ethan had knocked over, being the last of the clean up left after the custodial staff had cleared the broken glass and the puddle left by Eyghon. Tara began helping without prompting, eliciting a sad smile from Giles.

"Thank you." He said as she picked up one of the larger books. "Really, you don't need to trouble yourself with this. I'm nearly done."

"I-it's all right." Tara looked for the proper spot for the book she was holding. Giles took it from her hand and shelved it.

"Well, you can just hand them up to me then, and I'll sort them out." She nodded and they spent a few minutes in an uneasy silence as they passed the books. "I'm sorry you all had to see that. The last thing Buffy needs is… me bringing more struggles down on her head."

The librarian was so somber. Tara could relate to his guilt; the first night she met Buffy she'd been acting careless and had added to the Slayer's duties. "I-I think… she was more upset th-that you didn't let her help you." Giles looked at her quizzically. "She-she cares about you. As more than her Watcher, I mean."

Giles exhaled slowly as he reached for the top shelf. He cared about Buffy as more than his Slayer as well, but he knew the Council would not approve. Until he had started his assignment he hadn't truly appreciated how much pressure he would be putting his student under, and just how young sixteen really was. So many of the Watcher's diaries he read treated their subjects like soldiers being observed for a war journal, not girls being thrown into a lion's den of evil.

Perhaps even worse was that the vivacious young girl he was charged with protecting had attracted a circle of steadfast companions who insisted on putting themselves in harm's way as well. It was all one man could do keep them all from getting themselves killed. Then there was the matter of magic. He had very mixed feelings on that subject. On the one hand, it gave Tara, and would soon give Willow, more power to aid their friend and protect themselves. Conversely magic could go awry or tempt them into darkness, dangers he knew all too well from lived experience.

"I was trying to look after her." He said to Tara taking another book from her. "Eyghon was a shadow from my past, it was my burden to bear, not hers." The blonde wasn't sure of what to say. She could see both of their sides in this and didn't want to add any more tension to the mix. Giles blinked after looking at the witch for a long moment contemplatively. "Perhaps some good can come of this, however unequal it may be," he slid the volume into place and reached back to Tara for the next, "To the the ill that came it. At the very least you and Willow can take it as a cautionary tale. The pitfalls of dabbling in arcane arts and so forth."

Tara nodded as she knelt to pick up the last book. "We'll be careful. I promise." He smiled almost warmly as he took the book from her, and then gently placed it in its spot.

…

Later that evening the young witches had decided they'd practiced enough for the night and were putting away Tara's books so they could chat. Willow was feeling extra jumpy. Things between Miss Calendar and Giles had gone sour, which wasn't helping her anxieties about starting something new of her own. She really had no idea how she'd even begin. Her brain had been throwing out various unhelpful suggestions the whole afternoon she and Tara had been together.

_Maybe I should ask if I can kiss her once. Just to know what it's like. _Willow's mind had been running with variations on that thought for almost an hour now. _She's so sweet, maybe she won't mind letting me… No no no, I can't just ask people to kiss me for an experiment. But, isn't that what you have to do to know if you are… a gay type person? Experiment? Or should I just know? Did she just know? I should ask her how she knows. I wonder if she's kissed anyone. Gah, have to look away from her lips, this thinking isn't getting me anywhere. _

Willow tore her eyes away from the mouth that was occupying her thoughts to look at the magic stash under Tara's floorboards. She caught sight of a board game box and squinted in puzzlement. "An Ouija board? Those really work?" She asked.

Tara almost flushed with embarrassment. She didn't know why she'd kept it other than sentimentality.

"Not so much. Spirits usually expect a bit more effort than moving a piece of plastic over dyed cardboard to pick up a call." Tara said as she slid the floorboard back in to place. "I um, used it with some friends in middle school though. They were really into it."

The redhead was surprised. This was the first time Tara had mentioned any friends from Alabama. "Oh. Were, they into witchcraft too?" Her heart sank a little at the thought. Maybe she wasn't that special to Tara after all if the other girl had had a whole group of friends to practice with before. Maybe these lessons didn't mean as much to Tara as they did to her.

Tara shook her head. "None of them had any natural power. We mostly just chanted made up Latin over candles and incense, read each other's fortunes." She half-smiled at her student. "It was fun back then, but this is much better." Willow's heart floated up again, and she flashed a wide smile back at her teacher.

"It's cool that you had friends who were at least somewhat into it though. You never talked about them before." Before she could censor her impulse, the younger girl blurted out of one of the dozens of questions she'd been wanting to ask Tara since her pondering of her feelings had started. "So if you had a bunch of friends in middle school, did you ever have, a girlfriend?" Willow wanted to slap her forehead the minute the words were out. That had been less of a segue and more of what, in her mind at least, was an obvious revelation of her very confused-possibly-more-than-friendly intentions.

On her end Tara only heard a question any teenager might ask a friend. She still couldn't dream of Willow actually reciprocating her affections. She felt awkward about the answer, but Willow was easy to share with, comforting. "Not-not exactly."

That wasn't what Willow had been expecting to hear. "Not exactly? What does that mean?" She raised an eyebrow.

Tara sighed, trying not to look at the floor. "One of the girls in our group, Emma, some stuff happened between us. But we were never r-really girlfriends."

"Stuff?" Willow asked before catching herself. "Not that you have to talk about it, I mean stuff, that can be all kinds of personal and you don't want to talk with just anyone about your stuff."

"I-it's okay Willow." Tara said gently. "You're not just anyone." Willow's heart beat a little faster. "W-would you want to hear, I mean, it doesn't make you uncomfortable, does it?"

"No." Willow said in what she hoped wasn't an over-excited voice. "I wouldn't have asked if I was uncomfortable, I'm very comfortable. Listening."

"We were on her couch, watching a movie alone." Tara began her story. "I noticed she'd been kind of looking at me more than the movie, and I a-asked her why. She said she thought I was pretty, and I said I thought she was pretty too. Then she kissed me, and, things got a little, heated and we kind of made out for the rest of the movie." Willow's green eyes were very wide at this tale. It sounded so unlike the shy girl she knew. "I asked her what it meant, and she said 'What do you mean what does it mean?' I asked 'Does this mean that we're going out, like girlfriends?' And she…" Tara couldn't help but look down at this point. "She said 'No, don't be silly.'"

Willow was shocked. "My god. That must have really hurt. Did you, did you like her?"

Tara sighed. "I think I did, before that. After she said that I stopped having a crush on her. She made out with me few more times, but that was it."

"Wait what? You, kept making out with her? Why?" That wasn't shocking to Willow so much as just plain baffling.

"I figured, I might as well just let her. I, I didn't think I deserved any better, and I should just be grateful for what I could get." A year ago talking about this would have made Tara curl up into herself, but she'd had enough time to get over it. It wasn't really a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

"Tara that's awful." Willow said, her voice raising despite herself. "You deserve way more than some, some ho-bag who just wants to use you for, for…"

Tara cut her off, her friend not seeming able to get out the word 'tongue'. "It's okay, really. We were really young. I wouldn't want to do something like it again, but I was a different person."

"All right." Willow relented. "But you do know you deserve all the best things, right? You swear?"

The blue-eyed girl could feel her insides melt just a bit. "O-okay." The smaller girl just kept looking at her resolutely. She gave in and said what Willow wanted to hear. "I swear."

…

After learning about Tara's history all thoughts of asking for a test kiss were banished from Willow's mind. She could never hurt Tara like that girl had; Tara was far too precious a friend and person for that. So the onus fell on Willow to determine for herself if she could care for another girl. Instead of an experiment, she'd have to turn to her other area of expertise: research.

The task was daunting one. She'd never even perused straight "research material" to any great extent and was frankly scared to. _The internet is full of videos, but that's creepy, 'cause it's like, some real person somewhere and I'd be some stranger thinking about them and ew, I don't think I could do that. _Willow thought with a bit of panic. _Same with just pictures. Words. Words could be safe. Just made up people doing made up things to each other. Not so creepy. Maybe. _

Eventually she swallowed her fears and went searching. She found some short stories she hoped would be just explicit enough for her to judge her reactions accurately, but tame enough she wouldn't feel grimy from reading them. She only planned on looking over a few, but curiosity kept her going on to another and another. Willow rationalized it as just extra rigor for her research.

She gulped after closing the tab on the last story she had opened on her browser. She couldn't help looking around her room to see if anyone had noticed despite being the only one awake in her house. To her relief her laptop was the only witness to her arousal. Her findings were nearly conclusive, needing only to be field tested to be confirmed. _I think I'm kinda gay._

Willow may have been ninety percent sure she liked girls, but that didn't mean she was brave enough to tell Tara yet. She was going to carry on as if nothing had changed. She'd dealt with having a crush on a friend before; in fact if she was honest she still wasn't all the way over her crush on Xander. Willow decided to try and relax and give herself some time to adjust to her new self image before spilling the beans.

…

Thanksgiving was only two days away, and it couldn't come fast enough for Tara. Normally she hated it, because it meant going to the family reunion for her father's side of the family. The subject ended up being raised with her friends after they watched TV with Dawn at the Summers' home.

Joyce came home with the first of the family's Thanksgiving groceries and her daughters got up help her unload them, the other teens following despite there not really being enough bags to go around. Dawn looked over the haul as it was laid out in the kitchen and frowned a little.

"Is Aunt Arlene not coming?" The preteen asked.

Joyce nodded. "She and Jeff are going to Austin this year to eat with his sister's family. Just us three I'm afraid." Buffy and Dawn both pouted at that as they put the food away, liking larger family gatherings. "What about the rest of you? Are you going back to Alabama for the break Tara?" Joyce asked.

Tara almost jolted in surprise, but guessed being the only one not originally from Sunnydale kind of singled her out. "Um, just my father and brother. There's a big f-family reunion this time every year, but with my mom being sick, we're both staying here."

Willow and Buffy both thought that sounded like a jerk move on the part of Mr. Maclay but didn't voice their opinion. Dawn spoke up though. "That sucks, your dad not being home for Thanksgiving." Buffy remembered how sad her little sister had been the year before, the first Thanksgiving they'd spent without their own father. "And your brother." Dawn added, perhaps realizing she'd been speaking about her own feelings more than Tara's. Tara didn't seem too upset by the arrangement, and only Willow had an inkling why.

"So you two are on your own?" Joyce said thoughtfully. "Do you think your mother would want to have dinner with us? We have plenty of room for more."

The witch was taken aback. "I-I don't know." She saw Dawn and Buffy looking at her expectantly. "I could call her and ask." Joyce agreed and Tara left to use the living room phone, somewhat shy about talking with her mother in front of all of the others at once.

Buffy turned to her mother, having been inspired by the invitation to the Maclays. "Could we have Mr. Giles over? All the people he knows are in England, and they don't even have Thanksgiving over there, I think." She said scrunching her face.

"You'd really have a grown-up from school in your house? I'm surprised." Joyce said teasingly.

"Giles is okay." Buffy said. "He's a little uptight, but he could use some cheering up after…"

"Miss Calendar dumped him like last week's garbage?" Xander offered.

Buffy sighed. "Pretty much. She's a decent school grown-up too but, I guess it would be awkward having them both over." She looked back to her mother. "It's not too much is it? Having more people over?"

"The more the merrier. As long as you're helping out with the cooking and cleaning." Joyce said with a smile as Tara returned from the living room. "So, what did she say?"

"She said yes." Tara said happily. "A-and I can help with the cooking and cleaning stuff too."

"Can Xander come?" Dawn asked suddenly, blushing when everyone turned to her. "I-if you're not going to be having a big dinner at your place, or anything."

"Not unless you count buckets of Popeye's chicken and people passed in front of a football game as a big dinner." Xander said somewhat ruefully, leaving out the drinking and yelling matches that preceded the passing out. "I'll be happy to help deplete your food supplies."

"That makes you the last holdout Willow." Buffy said looking at the redhead. "Will you join us?"

"We'd love to have you." Joyce said, joined by an eagerly nodding Dawn.

Willow shrank back a little. "Hey, it's great that you're all getting together but, I have, principles about this holiday. It's about colonialism and cultural domination and, and I don't know that I want to be a part of that." She looked at Buffy and Tara pleadingly. "You agreed with me earlier, remember? About it being a sham?"

"It is a sham." Buffy said, having understood Willow's arguments against Thanksgiving earlier that day, but wanting as many of the people in her life to share it with her as possible. "But, it's a sham with yams. It's a yam sham."

"You can't cutesy rhyme your way into making me celebrate the slaughter of the Native Americans." Joyce repeated Willow's words under her breath in confusion, wondering how a sixteen year old had gotten into such a strong opinion.

"Well, lots of cultures have an end of autumn feast day, to celebrate the last harvest." Tara offered gently. "We don't have to call it Thanksgiving, it can just be Turkey Day. We're celebrating being with the people we care about."

Willow felt the last of her resistance breaking at Tara's hopeful smile.

"Okay, okay, I give. But I'm still not cheering for the pilgrims."

…

The teenagers ended up doing most of the cooking with some instruction from Joyce. Tara was the only one with any real experience and took the lead. Giles was endeared watching his Slayer enjoy something normal, even if tomorrow they'd have to get back to training. Joyce and Eileen were also bonding, having discovered their mutual love of art.

"I've been meaning to go see the gallery, I had no idea you were the owner." Eileen said as Joyce passed her a glass of apple cider.

"I'm going to be buying some new pieces from L.A. soon. You should come down once the new exhibition starts." They heard someone yelp in the kitchen. "I better go make sure they aren't burning down my house." Joyce said as she got up, leaving Eileen alone with Giles. Giles fiddled with his glasses before addressing her softly.

"I um, I wanted to you to know that I'm grateful that you're, giving guidance to Tara and Willow. In the magicks." He added quietly. "They're very special girls."

"They are." Eileen agreed. "And you'll keep giving them guidance as well?" She fixed him with a solemn look. "When I'm not around?" There was more meaning behind those words than simply a request to look after the girls while they were in school. Rupert caught the subtext and nodded gravely.

"Of course."

…

Author's (Other) Notes: I'm not going into any more detail on just what Willow read while researching, I'll leave that up to your imaginations. Next time we'll start the "What's my line"? episodes and the gang will meet the second Slayer and a certain musician.


	8. Gig Part One

Author's Notes: Shorter chapter this time, but I promise this won't become a regular thing. I try to aim for 5000 words each update, and some chapters might end up twice that long.

boris yeltsin: Happy birthday to you! I'm really looking forward to Faith, and she'll have a big part in the sequel.

Missocki: Oz definitely has a role to play, and I think you'll like what happens in the end. Werewolves have always been my favorite horror monsters.

Forever-Furuba: That would awesome, but Spike is years of character development away from being safe to spend a holiday with the Summers. He's my favorite male character. Maybe it's just my skewed sense of what's cute, but I always found that scene in "Pangs" where Spike is looking in the window at the vampire patting the other on the back as he feeds endearing.

Dirty Tube Socks: Good to know, I'll have to see it. You're not getting all that far ahead. There's a reason "family" is the first genre on this story. After this chapter and the next things will be more focused on that side of things than the romance for a while, but then come back around.

Chapter Eight: Gig, Part One

Career week was starting at Sunnydale High, and the Slayer wasn't too enthusiastic about the test with her fate already decided. Joyce was out buying art in Los Angeles until Thursday, so Tara had agreed to come over in the evenings to watch Dawn while Buffy was slaying.

Dawn had gone up to her room and Tara was passing the time reading until her friend returned from patrol. She heard muffled voices coming from Buffy's room for a few minutes before a door opened.

"Dawn!" Buffy shouted.

The babysitter closed her book and went upstairs to see what had happened. Buffy was glaring at her younger sister who had fallen back onto the floor.

"What's going on, i-is everything okay?" Tara asked.

"You were spying on me." The older Summers accused Dawn.

"The front door never opened, and- and I heard talking in your room." She explained. "I thought we might be getting robbed."

"And so you leaned against my door?" Buffy said sarcastically. "You should be asleep."

"I was, until you got home. Maybe I'll tell mom you're going skating with Angel." Dawn threatened.

"You're going skating with Angel?" Tara asked, wondering when that had been arranged. She guessed that was the male voice she had heard earlier. It was unnerving that she hadn't noticed him enter the house. It was a good thing vampires had to be invited to enter a residence. If they could move that silently she wouldn't be able to catch them before they got to her or Dawn in the event of a home invasion.

"Yes, we made a date." Buffy admitted. "Dawn, you're not really going to stop me from having _some _kind of normal social life are you?" Granted a date with a two hundred and forty something year old vampire wasn't completely normal, but it was close enough for Buffy given the weirdness of her life.

"I don't know." Dawn said with a shrug. "Are you gonna be home at all this week?" She sounded a bit hurt.

"You know she has to go fight monsters at night Dawnie." Tara said. "But I'll be here."

"Thank you." The shorter blonde said to Tara before sighing. She turned to face her sister again. "Can I make it up to you?"

"Make it up to me?" Dawn asked. "Like how?"

Buffy reached into her pocket and pulled out several bills of the money their mother had left her with for the week. "You can have this. Go out with some friends tomorrow to a movie or something."

The preteen took the bribe gladly. "Awesome! I'll see if anyone wants to have a sleepover and we can order like a million pizzas." She left for her room, Buffy relieved and Tara concerned by her excitement.

"Um, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Tara asked warily. "This might train her to blackmail you whenever she wants something."

Buffy sighed again. "I just really need a break." She paused for a moment, feeling guilty. "Am I a bad sister, throwing money at her to shut her up and leaving other people to take care of her?"

Tara shook her head. "You don't even register on the bad sibling scale. But Dawn might feel better if you spent more time together."

The Slayer groaned at the thought.

…

The next morning the test results were posted. Tara saw Cordelia laughing as Xander checked his assignment. The brunette walked off and Xander noticed Tara's approach, looking embarrassed.

"Tara." He greeted her. "Wouldn't you say you know me about as well as anyone else? Maybe even better than I know myself?"

"Probably not better, but I guess. Why?" She asked.

"When you look at me, do you think prison guard?"

"Really?" Tara said in surprise, looking under 'Harris' to confirm. "They gave you prison guard?"

"According to my test results I can look forward to being gainfully employed in the growing field of corrections." He said cynically as Tara found his name.

"Don't worry about it. You can't take these tests too seriously." She flipped under 'M' and showed him 'Maclay, Donald'. "Look, they gave my brother prison guard too, and you're nothing like him."

"Oh yeah? What did you get?" Xander asked, having already seen Tara's results beneath Donny's. "Still think they shouldn't be taken seriously?"

"Graphic design or museum curator." She read, pleasantly surprised. "That actually sounds…" She looked back at Xander, who had figured she'd enjoy her posted careers. "… c-completely random. It doesn't mean anything." Tara finished, trying to protect Xander's feelings.

"It's fine." He flipped up the paper covering R through T. "Huh, Buffy's at the law enforcement booth. Guess she'll be bringing me crooks to maltreat."

Tara squinted at the list, noticing a glaring omission. "I-I don't see Rosenberg anywhere."

"That's weird. Willow was psyched about the test." He looked up and saw her and Buffy coming out from the school building. They met up and the girls giggled at Xander's assignment. Buffy was less amused to find she had been assigned to the police booth. She left them to go check in with Giles, who had been expecting her to be extra-efficient and check in with him every day after homeroom.

"You guys didn't check to see which seminar I was assigned to, did you?" Willow asked hopefully.

"We did, and you weren't." Xander answered.

"I wasn't what?"

"On the list. We couldn't find your name." Tara said apologetically.

"But I handed in my test. I used a number two pencil." Willow fretted.

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Then I guess you must have passed."

"It's not the kind of test you pass or fail."

"Y-you should go talk with a teacher about it, see if there was mix-up." Tara suggested. "I-I'm sure it was just misplaced or something."

Willow pouted and went back inside in search of answers. The staff assured her that her test had been received, and several minutes later she was taken aside by two men in black suits.

…

Oz had been waiting for almost half an hour, having been left with fancy finger food and Vivaldi music to occupy him until the software company recruiter arrived. The guitarist had filled his plate, mostly out of boredom. He wasn't sure he trusted the snacks and held up his loaded plate, inspecting it from every angle. He heard the MIB bringing someone else into the room.

"Please, make yourself comfortable."

"But I didn't even get my test back." A girl's voice protested.

"The test was irrelevant." The man informed her. "We've been tracking you for some time."

"Is that a good thing?" The girl asked nervously.

"I would think so. We're very selective. In fact, only one other Sunnydale student met our criteria."

Oz felt the girl sit on the middle of the sofa. He was stunned when he looked over and saw it was the mystery girl he'd been seeing everywhere for the last two months. The redhead smiled nervously at him, hands folded in her lap. For a moment he was sat in silence, wondering what his first words should be now that he finally had a chance to talk to her. He decided to hold out the plate of hors d'oeuvres.

"Canapé?" He offered.

"No thanks, I um, my stomach's a little 'prrgh' right now from the nervousness." She declined. Oz set the plate down with a small shrug. "This is all so weird. I thought those guys were from the government or something and I was getting arrested. Not that I've ever done anything for them to arrest me for, well, okay maybe I get into databases I shouldn't sometimes with the hacking, I guess that's what they meant when they said they'd been tracking me. Were they tracking you? I mean, you wouldn't be here if you weren't into computers, so I guess you could be a hacker too, and I'm talking way too much when we don't even know each other's names. My name is Willow, what's yours? Unless I've freaked you out too much and you don't want to give your name to a felon. Not a felon, because we're not being arrested, right, right."

"Oz." He said amused by her outburst. "If you promise not to shank me I think we'll be good."

Willow relaxed, calmed by the boy's easy going demeanor. Before they could chat any further the recruiter arrived. Willow sat in rapt attention as the man describe what a career in software development would entail, trying to sound as sharp as possible when asked questions. Oz just kept a tiny smile and nodded, not really paying attention to him. Programming wasn't really a job that interested him, in that it fell under the category of employment. He was just glad to have had a good first meeting with the girl who'd taken his breath away the moment he saw her.

…

While the others had gone to their career week seminars, Buffy and Giles had been searching for more information on the relic that was stolen by vampires the night before. Giles had deduced it was a device called the du Lac cross, and that it was going to be used to translate the book another vampire had stolen from his collection the week Ford was in town. It seemed the vampires had all that they needed to pull off whatever scheme they had brewing.

"Unless we can preempt their plans." The Watcher said rubbing his forehead in stress.

"How?" Willow asked.

"By learning what's in the book before they do." He said taking a seat. "Which means we can expect to be here late tonight."

"Goody! Research party!" They all looked at Willow, who was brimming over with excitement. Tara grinned, finding her enthusiasm extremely cute.

"Will, you need a life in the worst way." Xander said pointing at her.

Buffy got up, reminded of her plans with Angel. "Speaking of… I have to bail, but I promise I'll be back bright and early tomorrow and ready to slay."

"This is a matter of some urgency, Buffy." Giles said firmly.

"I realize that." Buffy said. "Well, you have to admit I kinda lack in the book area. Tara's got the ancient languages covered, and Willow's the net girl. I'll only be here for moral support anyway."

"That's untrue, Buff." Xander disagreed. "You totally contribute. You go for snacks!" Buffy looked to Willow and Tara for back up. Tara was glad to support the Slayer in getting a night off; she deserved one with all the pressure she was under.

"She should go… you know… gather her strength." Willow said.

"A-and she'll need to check in with Dawn, s-see if she can go stay with one of her friends tonight." Tara added.

"Perhaps you're right." Giles put his glasses back on. "There may be fierce battles ahead." Buffy began to leave and Xander objected, being the only one besides the librarian ignorant of the ice skating date.

"But HoHos are a vital part of my cognitive process." He complained.

"Sorry Xand. Some place I have to be." The men looked at each other in confusion and she was out the door.

"You could go for snacks." Willow suggested. "Unless you like the books better."

"Snack duty it is." Xander declared, getting up for a food run already.

…

A couple hours later Buffy returned to the library with a ring taken from a vanquished foe. A one-eyed demon man had attacked her at the skating rink, and after looking at the ring Giles recognized it as a symbol of the Order of Taraka. They were an extremely deadly group of assassins, and Giles warned that where there was one there would be another, and another. Buffy took the threat very seriously. She headed to the home of the only person she thought could help her fight such a threat.

…

Hours passed, and research was bearing little fruit. Willow and Tara were reading books on the counter as Giles looked through the index cards.

"I wish there was more we could do." The redhead said sadly.

"Me too." Tara agreed. "I wish I had more of those protection charms we made." She would certainly put some effort into researching stronger protection spells the next time she and Willow got together for a lesson.

"We're doing all that we can." Giles told them. "The only course of action is to try and find out what was in that stolen book."

"I've never seen Buffy like that. She just took off." Willow said.

"Well, she didn't go home." Xander said joining them. "The phone rang a few hundred times, before I remembered her mom is out of town."

"Maybe Buffy unplugged the phone." Giles suggested.

"No, it's a statistical impossibility for a sixteen year old girl to unplug her phone." Xander said in disagreement. The teen witches nodded confirmation when the Watcher looked at them questioningly.

"Well, perhaps my words of caution were… a little too alarming." Giles said in concern.

"You think?" Xander said sarcastically.

"It's good that she took you seriously Giles." Willow assured him. "I just wish we knew where she was."

"I-I'm going to go call Dawn, make sure she knows not to come home until it's safe." Tara said getting up. "I'll take her to my house if Buffy isn't home tomorrow."

"You think she'd really stay out that long?" Willow asked. Tara shrugged, shaking her head with a deep frown. "I sure hope not."

Dawn said Janice's mother was happy to drop her off at school the next day. Tara extended the invitation to take Dawn back to her place while leaving out the full extent of the danger her older sister was in, just saying she might be caught up with Slayer business for a while.

…

The evening dragged on with no results, and eventually Xander and Tara had to head home. When Tara got home she found her mother in the kitchen brewing tea. Eileen covered her mouth as a deep cough wracked her.

"Mom?" Tara said setting down her book bag. "What's going on? Why aren't you in bed?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Eileen said indicating the oven's clock with a nod of her head. She coughed again, taking a few deep breaths afterwards with a hand to steady her chest. "Just needed something to soothe the coughing, it's keeping everyone up."

Tara frowned at her mother's self-deprecation and moved between her and the kettle. "You go sit down, I'll finish the tea." Eileen sighed and gave in, sitting down in the living room. "Um, is it okay if I have Dawn over here tomorrow? I might need to babysit her. Mrs. Summers is out of town and Buffy is… busy."

"Of course, you know your friends are welcome here anytime." Tara poured a mug for her mother and brought it to her carefully. "Thank you." Eileen took a gentle sip and let out a sigh of contentment, looking at her daughter thoughtfully. "Buffy is very lucky to have you for a friend Tara."

The teen smiled, taking a seat beside Eileen on the couch. "Luck is definitely something she needs lots of."

They chatted for a while, the elder woman's coughs becoming softer and fewer as she drank the hot tea. Tara was still anxious about the Order of Taraka and the missing book, so she set her alarm clock a couple of hours early so she could get back to the library as soon as possible.

…

Giles was already there when Tara arrived, answering a phone call in his office.

"Xander? No, I haven't heard from Buffy yet. I think you should go to her house and check on her. Well… right-right away." Tara walked past him, seeing Willow asleep in front of the computer on the central table. She tiptoed over, trying not to startle the sleeping girl. "I don't know! Get Cordelia to drive you." Giles hung up as Tara gave her friend a tentative tap on the shoulder.

It wasn't enough to wake her. "Willow…" Tara whispered, almost regretting having to disturb her after what had surely been a long and uncomfortable night for the little hacker.

Willow was running from a giant frog assassin from the Order of Taraka, trying to avoid his tadpole spies. They had almost spotted her, and she had to warn the others of their duplicitous nature before it was too late. Her friends were standing talking by a pond, unaware of the danger.

"Don't warn the tadpoles!" Willow shouted. She looked around blearily as she opened her eyes, not remembering where she was. She was just waking up, so she must be in her bedroom. But if she was in her bedroom, what was Tara doing here? The early morning light was making the girl's hair even more golden than usual, almost casting a glowing halo around her sweet face. _Maybe I'm still dreaming, _Willow thought, _She looks like an angel. _

"A-are you all right?" Tara said tenderly, resisting the urge to brush the strands of red hair out of her crush's face.

"Tara, what are you doing here?" Willow asked in confusion.

"Um, we're in the school library, Will. You, must have fallen asleep."

Willow was startled and embarrassed at being found in such a state. "Oh, I… did I say anything?" She asked, knowing she sometimes talked in her sleep.

"You um, said 'Don't warn the tadpoles'." Tara replied. Willow squirmed in further embarrassment.

"I… I have frog fear." She explained. She half expected Tara to laugh at her, but was relieved when her tutor just nodded empathetically.

_I can't believe anyone can be so brave and so quirky. She fights demons and mummies, and then gets frightened by horses and frogs. _Tara thought fondly. _She is just too adorable._

Willow saw Giles watching them, the Watcher having let the girls be until Willow was more together. "I'm sorry. I conked out."

"Oh please." He said dismissing her unneeded apology. "You've gone quite beyond the call of duty. But… fortunately, I think I may have found something, finally."

"You did?" Tara asked, hoping it was good news.

"I found a description of the missing du Lac manuscript." Giles' tone told Tara it wasn't. "It's a ritual, girls. Now, I haven't managed to decipher the exact details, but I… I believe the purpose is to restore a weak and sick vampire back to full health."

The witches shared a knowing look, remembering which fiend currently in town matched that description.

"A vampire like Drusilla?" Willow asked.

"Exactly."

…

Meanwhile Buffy was throwing down with a powerful girl at Angel's apartment. She assumed the fighter was the second assassin from the Order. What the girl claimed her identity to be was the last thing Buffy would have expected.

"I'm Kendra, the vampire Slayer."


	9. Gig Part Two

Author's Notes: Sorry that this update took forever. The next few chapters should be done soon, hopefully. I'll be posting progress reports on my tumblr, phoenixgau. tumblr. com

boris yeltsin: The answer is in the notes on Chapter Four. Kendra versus Buffy would be more of a saber tooth tiger fight.

Dirty Tube Socks: I didn't anticipate a lot of scenes with them, but I like putting them in when they fit. There are some things Xander is better for than Buffy or Willow. And I'm very much looking forward to "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered".

TazFlan93: Glad you're enjoying and I hope I can keep the updates coming.

Chapter Nine: Gig, Part Two

Now that they knew the purpose of the ritual, there was little they could do until Buffy was found. Giles insisted that the girls go get something to eat to prepare themselves for the perilous day ahead. Neither girl had ever arrived early enough to have the breakfast the school offered, and when they saw the quality of the food offerings they agreed that they hadn't been missing anything. Tara tried to get their minds off the assassins and Drusilla's eminent restoration by bringing up something that had been confusing her since she woke Willow.

"So, if you have frog fear, w-why do you have a stuffed one?" Tara asked, remembering Willow toying with it while worrying about Xander and Ampata.

"Oh." Willow said looking sheepish. "It's, kind of an immersion therapy thing. My mom tried to help me get over it by showing me a documentary about amphibians when I was little, but that just gave me nightmares about poison dart frogs sneaking up on me and rubbing their neurotoxins all over my skin." She shuddered, brushing her arms as if they were really covered in tiny tropical killers. "Kermit the frog's about the level of exposure I can handle." Willow's natural instinct was to look away in embarrassment, but there was no mocking in Tara's expression. "So yeah, horses and frogs scare me. I can be kind of a baby."

"I don't think you're a baby at all Will." Tara said sincerely. "Maybe you have an animal phobia or two, but you're brave enough to fight real monsters. You're the bravest person I've ever known."

A blush accompanied by a rush of prickling almost as intense as when they touched came over Willow. _When this is over, when we're all safe, _Willow thought finally making up her mind, _I'm telling her how I feel. _

The girls finished up their breakfast and headed back to the library to overhear Giles, Buffy and some unknown girl arguing. The Watcher was pacing as he tried to defuse the situation.

"Buffy, please. There's obviously some misunderstanding."

"Hey." Willow greeted, unsure of what was going on. She and Tara were both glad to see Buffy safe, but before the blonde Slayer could return the greeting the other girl stepped forth, glaring at them hostilely.

"Identify yourself!" She demanded.

"Back off, Pink Ranger!" Buffy snapped. The mystery girl looked back at the Slayer. "These are my friends."

"Friends?" The girl asked in confusion.

"Yeah. As in people you hang with? Amigos?" Buffy said in frustration.

"I don't understand."

Buffy shook her head and took a seat. "You try." She said to Giles. "I'm tapped."

"Kendra, there are a few people, civilians, if you like, who know Buffy's identity." He explained patiently. "Willow and Tara two of them. And they also um spend time together… socially."

"And you allow this, sir?" Kendra said incredulously.

"Well, for one thing they're both practicing witches, so the magical support comes in handy." He offered. Tara's heart started racing in a panic. Who on Earth was Kendra that Giles was outing them as magic users before they'd even been introduced?

"You are both spell casters?" The athletic girl sized them both up. "Where are you registered?"

"R-registered?" Tara said nearly trembling. You were supposed to register somewhere to practice magic? Her mother had never told her anything like that. Willow was picturing getting fined for unlicensed acts of witchcraft.

"Um, what's goin' on?" Willow asked, too disoriented to come up with a reply to Kendra's inquiry. She and Tara both sat down beside Buffy.

"Apparently, there's been a really big mix-up." Buffy said, anger rippling through her voice.

"It seems somehow that another Slayer has been sent to Sunnydale." Giles explained.

"I-is that even possible? Two Slayers at the same time?" Tara asked. Nothing in _People of Extraordinary Power _had indicated that could happen. There was only ever one chosen one at a time as far back as anyone could remember.

"Not to my knowledge. Um… the new Slayer is only called after the previous Slayer has died." Buffy looked at Giles dourly and Willow realized at the same time the librarian did what must have happened. None of them had ever anticipated this, but it all fit. "Good lord. You _were_ dead Buffy."

"I was only gone for a minute." She said dismissively.

"Clearly it doesn't matter how long you were gone." Giles said, astounded by the revelation. This was unparalleled in history and would certainly lead to a flurry of research and discussion by the Watchers Council. "You were physically dead, thus causing the activation of the next Slayer."

Kendra stepped forward and spoke with the same surprise Tara was feeling. "She died?

"Just a little." Buffy said, again trying to minimize the magnitude of what had happened to her last year. The less she dwelled on it the better in her book.

"She drowned. She was revived." Giles said as Tara and Kendra looked at the blonde in amazement. Willow had told her numerous tales of their sophomore adventures, but had that detail had never come up.

"So there really are two of them." The redhead said, actually impressed that the world had managed to get itself two protectors by an act of CPR.

"It would seem so." Giles said joining his charges in sitting. "This is completely unprecedented. I'm quite flummoxed."

"What's the flum? It's a mistake. She shouldn't be here. She goes home." Buffy turned to Kendra. "Look, no offense, I don't mean this personally, but I'm not dead and, frankly, having you around creeps me out just a little bit."

"I cannot just leave." The darker Slayer protested. "I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said all the signs indicate that a very dark power's about to rise in Sunnydale."

Buffy stood up into a challenging stance. "And what's your great plan for fighting this dark power? You just going to attack people randomly till you find a bad one?"

"Of course not." Kendra said coolly. Tara couldn't help but think how different and similar they were at the same time. Buffy's energy was wild and burning hot, fuelled by her temper and passionate protectiveness. Kendra was just as intense, but more rigid and directed. It was difficult to determine just what drove her.

"Then why the hell did you attack me?" Buffy demanded.

"I thought you were a vampire." Kendra said coolly.

The blonde made a grunt of disbelief. "A swing and a miss for the rookie." She went to stand by Willow.

"I had good reason to tink you were." Kendra explained. "Did I not see you kissing a vampire?"

"Buffy would never do that!" Willow protested getting out her seat to stand by her friend. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized they were inaccurate. "Oh… except for sometimes you do that." The redhead corrected herself to Buffy, remembering Angel. "But only with Angel." She continued, still trying to defend Buffy to her new counterpart. Willow looked at the smaller Slayer, wondering if she there had been other undead rendezvous she hadn't known about. Weirder things had happened in Sunnydale. "Right?"

"Yes. Right." Willow sat down, having made her point and Buffy glared back at Kendra. "Look, you saw me with Angel and he is a vampire, but he's good."

"Angel? You mean Angelus?" The newer Slayer said in alarm. "I've read about him. He is a monster."

"No no no." Giles interjected. "He's good now."

"Really." Willow agreed and she and Tara both nodded.

"He had a Gypsy curse." Buffy explained.

"He had a what?"

"You know what, just trust me on this one, okay? He's on the home team now." Buffy's patience had been thin enough at the start, now it was fraying to near the snapping point.

"I cannot believe you." Kendra said sharply. "He looked to me just like another animal when I..." She trailed off, seeming to remember something important. Her predecessor marched over to her, biting back her rage.

"When you what? What did you do to him?" She asked close to seething.

"I…" Even through Kendra's tough shell Buffy's anger managed to rattle her.

"What did you do?"

The younger Slayer composed herself. "I confined him where he would be struck by the sunrise." Buffy tried to grab her and she blocked, dropping into a defensive stance. "If you want to save him I suggest we go now."

The blonde didn't hesitate even a second before taking Kendra's arm and charging out the door, only asking for directions when they were already on the move.

Giles and the witches exchanged nervous glances once they were alone. They were all worried about Angel and unsure of what to make of Kendra after their tense first meeting. Giles decided he could best be of use contacting her Watcher Sam Zabuto. Tara took the opportunity to fill in the gaps in her knowledge about Buffy's past.

"I can't believe s-she drowned…" She said, unbidden images of her friend submerged coming to her mind's eye. "That's awful. How did she come back?"

"Xander saved her with CPR." Willow said. "Angel couldn't because vampires don't breathe. I guess flat lining for a few seconds is still enough to trigger the next Slayer." She had an idle wonder if there was a way of inducing temporary death and raising some kind of Slayer army one girl at a time, but let it go. That was way too gruesome.

Tara paused a few moments before asking her next question. "How did she… I mean, it must have been some kind of monster, to keep her underwater like that?"

"The Master." Willow said, and Tara didn't need any more explanation. Buffy had told her about their final confrontation and her later smashing of his bones, but had left out her short loss of life. That was one thing the blondes had in common; one girl may have been outgoing and the other shy, but they both kept the most sensitive things to themselves out of fear. Tara supposed that was true of everyone in the end.

…

It wasn't long before the Slayers returned. They hadn't found Angel, but Willy the loose tongued bar owner had told them the vampire was lying low to recover from his injuries and sunlight exposure. Giles filled them in as he and the four girls walked the grounds of the school. He and Kendra were walking in front followed by Buffy, with Tara and Willow timidly bringing up the rear.

"Kendra, I've conferred with your Watcher, Mr. Zabuto. And we both agree that until this matter with Spike and Drusilla has been resolved that you two should work together."

"Oh, that'll be a treat." Buffy said sarcastically.

"So you believe that Spike is attempting to revive this Drusilla to health." Kendra asked the Watcher, ignoring Buffy's annoyance.

"Yes, well, I fear that's the dark power that your Watcher referred to." Giles was keeping to business as well, which only irritated his student further. "You see, Drusilla's not only evil. She's also quite mad. And if she was restored to her full health, well, then there's absolutely no telling what she might do."

"Then we will stop Spike." Kendra stated confidently.

"Ooh, good plan! Let's go! Charge!" Buffy interjected again.

Giles was growing weary of her moodiness. "Buffy…"

"It's a little more complicated John Wayne." Buffy continued.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is." Giles agreed. "Spike has also called out the Order of Taraka to keep Buffy out of the way."

"The assassins? I read of them in the writings of Dramius." Kendra said in recognition. Tara was intrigued. It seemed the other Slayer took it upon herself to do more than just practice fighting. She didn't fault Buffy for her style, but given a choice between reading and training her body she'd pick reading any time.

"Oh really? Which volume?" Giles seemed intrigued too.

"I believe it was six, sir."

"Um, how do you know all this?" Buffy asked.

"From my studies." Kendra answered.

"So obviously you have a lot of free time." Buffy accused.

"I study because it is required. _The Slayer Handbook _insists on it." Giles laughed, amazed that someone had managed to corral a teenage girl into reading and following a rulebook.

"There's a S-slayer handbook?" Tara asked in surprise. Willow was fascinated. If such a thing existed she simply had to get her hands on a copy. It would make her a much better helper and maybe even teach her how to keep from getting into trouble when the things that went bump came prowling around. She was sure Buffy didn't like having to save her so often from being held hostage or cornered by a monster.

"Handbook? What handbook? How come I don't have a handbook?" Buffy asked frantically.

"Is there a T-shirt too? 'Cause that would be cool." Willow asked. _And we could all wear matching shirts that say 'Assistant Slayer" or something, _Willow thought, _Or maybe jackets._

"After meeting you Buffy, I realized that the handbook would be of no use in your case." Giles explained. He still remembered her reaction the first time he'd presented the Vampyr book to her. It would easier to get blood from a stone.

"What do you mean 'of no use in my case'?" Buffy asked, hurt by her mentor's slight. "What's wrong with my case?"

He didn't bother to reply. "Kendra, perhaps you could show me the part in _Dramius 6 _whereit refers to the Order of Taraka. I could never get through that book, it was bit stodgy." Buffy, Willow, and Tara pulled ahead of Kendra and Giles as they chatted.

"It was difficult. All those footnotes." The Watcher and Slayer shared a laugh.

"Hello and welcome to Planet Pocket Protector." Buffy grumbled.

"Oh, uh Buffy." Giles said as if remembering her presence. "Principal Snyder was snooping round after you."

She knew what that meant. "Ew… career fair."

"Best make an appearance, I think." He suggested.

"Right." Buffy sighed.

"Buffy's a student here?" Kendra asked in surprise.

"Yes." Giles confirmed.

"Right." Kendra's tone was almost mocking. After taking so much abuse from Buffy it seemed she was ready to dish out some snark of her own. "Of course. And I imagine she's a cheerleader as well."

"Oh, no, she had to give up her cheerleading." The librarian said without a trace of irony. "It was quite an amusing story actually…" He realized he was getting off topic and led the newer Slayer away to more productive pursuits. "Let's go and find that book, shall we?"

"Get a load of the she-Giles." Buffy said as they left.

"Creepy." Willow agreed supportively. She didn't actually have a problem with Kendra as a person, but she could tell Buffy was feeling left out and jealous.

"I bet Giles wishes I was more of a book geek." Buffy said sadly. She looked at Tara, who was looking at the ground uncomfortably. Tara was the biggest book geek of the lot by far. It was something Tara knew set her apart from other teens, but it wasn't often Buffy or Xander made her feel bad about it. "Sorry, but I see the way he is with you. And now he's got someone who can read tiny Watcher handwriting _and _Slay. How am I supposed to compete with that?"

"Y-you don't need to compete with her Buffy." Tara said softly. "I know we get along, but you're the one who's special to him."

"She's right Buffy, no one could replace you." Willow agreed. "You'll always be Giles' favorite."

"I wonder." The shorter blonde said contemplatively.

"Of course you will. You're _his _Slayer. The _real _Slayer." Willow was usually the one on the receiving end of pep talks between her and Buffy, but she was always ready to reciprocate.

"No… I wonder if it would be so bad, being replaced." Buffy clarified.

"You mean, like, letting Kendra take over?" Willow asked.

"Maybe. Maybe after this thing with Spike and the assassins is over I could say 'Kendra, you slay. I'm going to Disneyland.'"

"But, not forever, right?" For some reason Willow was afraid of Buffy retiring to a normal teenage life. Part of Willow was afraid that without the slaying to help her with, Buffy wouldn't see any reason to keep a nerd like her around, let alone as her best friend.

"No. Disneyland would probably get boring after a few months. But I could do other stuff. Career day stuff. Maybe I could even have a normal life." The prospect gave Buffy more hope than she could remember feeling in years.

Tara had to agree with her. "I think that sounds great." The Scooby life had its excitements, but she'd rather see her friend live a long time than have to face down demons every night for the rest of her life.

…

The girls walked through the halls towards their career day seminars.

"My tests say that I should look into law enforcement, duh, and environmental design." Buffy said.

"Environmental design, like landscaping?" Tara questioned.

"I checked the shrub box. But landscaping was yesterday, so law enforcement it is." They came to the center of a cluster of tables. Buffy saw a short boy with a small mustache looking their way. She double checked the angle of his gaze to see which of them he was looking at. _Awesome, someone's digging Willow, _Buffy thought happily. "Will, don't look, okay?" That of course prompted the redhead to look. "No, don't look. That guy over there is totally checking you out." Tara squirmed. Buffy was of course oblivious to her discomfort.

"Oh that's Oz." Willow said dismissively. "He's expressing computer nerd solidarity." The boy in question got up and started walking.

"Really? Then why is he on his way over here right now?" Buffy teased. Willow was suddenly nervous. "Told you." Before either of the witches could object the Slayer was leading Tara away to leave Oz and Willow alone.

Tara and Buffy watched the two talk about computers and their ambitions for the future. They couldn't hear much, but it looked like the two were hitting it off. "It's about time Willow met a guy who wasn't Xander or a killer demon-robot." Buffy said with a little smirk. Her smirk faded when she noticed Tara's lack of enthusiasm for the hook up. "What? You getting a bad vibe off him?" They had all been caught off guard by lovers who only looked human before, and if Oz's aura was off Buffy was willing to take him down then and there.

"N-no, he seems l-like a good guy…" She could hear him mentioning learning to play E flat diminished ninth. So Oz was a musician. And cute, from what she could tell. And totally into the girl Tara was in love with. She knew it was inevitable that Willow would meet someone eventually, but seeing it unfold in front of her still hurt. "I-it's good, for them." She turned away and looked for the graphic design station. "I-I better get to my seminar."

Buffy frowned, unsure of what to make of Tara's behavior. She decided to let it go until later and went to sign up at the law enforcement table. A police officer with her hair pulled back in a braid held up a clipboard once the students were assembled.

"All right, listen up, and answer when I call your name." The woman began. "Buffy Summers?" Buffy raised her hand nonchalantly, and before even a second had passed the officer pulled out her gun and tried to fire on Buffy. The Slayer grabbed the woman's hands and pushed the gun's muzzle away, causing the first shot to hit the ceiling. Around them kids began to shriek and scatter. Buffy dropped the officer to the ground and she got up, aiming again. She popped a second shot and Buffy turned her attention to her classmates.

"Get down!" She called out.

"Look out!" Oz yelled. He dove and shoved Willow out of the path of the gun, taking the third bullet in his right shoulder. Tara rushed over to them as a fourth shot blew the top off a model skeleton skull. She and Willow helped Oz sit on the floor as he tried to apply pressure to the wound. Everything was happening so fast. All she could think about was that Willow's life had been in danger, and that the man in front of her had saved her.

Tara wanted desperately to magic the bullet out, but settled for slowing the bleeding and numbing the pain. She whispered chants as she held Oz's shoulder in her hand, unsure if it was working. He had been pretty stoic about his injury to begin with. Willow was disoriented and didn't even realize what Tara was doing until Buffy came over to check on them. At some point Kendra had returned and was chasing the assassin out of the school.

"He's… he's shot!" Willow exclaimed to Buffy. "Are you okay?" She asked him, Tara still focusing on relieving his pain.

"Yeah… I'm shot, you know. Wow! It's odd." He looked at Tara curiously, unable to make out what language she was muttering. He wondered if she was praying. "And… not as painful as I expected." Oz and Tara's eyes met, and she wondered if he could see what she was. Before that worry could go too far Kendra returned.

"She's gone." She said tightly. Their classmate Jonathan brought himself out of the shock of being held hostage at knife point to ask the most apparently knowledgeable people in the room what was going on.

"Was that a demonstration?"

The four girls exchanged glances. Buffy was unsure if it was safer to lie to him or to warn him that they had been in real danger in case the assassin came back.

"I don't know. I guess she just went postal, happens to a lot of civil servants." Buffy improvised. Normally Willow would chime in with back up, but she was too concerned with her injured savior to come up with anything.

"W-we need to call an ambulance." Tara said, knowing she couldn't keep up the spell indefinitely.

"I'll go." Willow said standing up swiftly. She mouthed 'thank you' to Tara before hurrying off. Jonathan shook his head and walked off in another direction.

"We must report to the Watcher." Kendra said to Buffy's frustration.

"I know that." Buffy looked at Tara and Oz. "You sure you're going to be okay?"

"Think so." The musician said.

"I-I'll stay with him." Tara said firmly. Buffy nodded and the Slayers headed for the library.

They sat in silence as they waited for the paramedics to arrive, and even as Oz was loaded into the ambulance they shared their gratitude without words. Neither of them liked to use them too much anyway.

…

Buffy sat on the library counter while Willow bandaged her knee. She had come away more or less unscathed.

"She was definitely one of the Taraka gang Giles, and way gun happy." Buffy told her Watcher.

"This, um… Oz chappie, he's all right?" Giles asked Tara.

"The paramedic said it wasn't deep, h-he should be fine." She answered, watching Willow's face brighten at her news.

"Thank goodness." The redhead was used to Buffy risking her life for her, but a normal, squishy boy? She had never expected that, and she felt responsible.

Xander and Cordelia came in to everyone's relief, having been missing since Giles' early morning phone call. They looked shaken. Kendra began to approach them and Buffy could sense she was about to start another hostile confrontation.

"Down girl!" The shorter Slayer barked.

"Who sponsored career day today?" Xander asked, he and Cordy both having been witness to the carnage the assassin had left in the hallway. "The British soccer fan association?"

"We had a rather violent visit from the Order of Taraka." Giles said coming around the counter to them.

"You wanna talk Order of Taraka? We just met the king freak of the…" Xander's thought was forgotten as he noticed there was a new and unknown person in the room with them. "Hello!"

"Oh, forgive me. Xander, Cordelia, this is Kendra." Giles introduced them. "It's rather complicated but she is also a Slayer."

Cordelia didn't have the fortitude to process the news, having already had one of the longest days of her life. "Hi, nice to meet you." She greeted her, still creeped out by her encounter with the bug man and other… complications.

"A Slayer, huh?" Xander looked at Buffy teasingly. "I knew this 'I'm the only one, I'm the only one' thing was just an attention getter."

Buffy hopped down off the counter. "Just say hello, Xander."

The boy addressed the newcomer. "Welcome. So, you're a Slayer, huh? I like that in a woman." He joked.

"I hope… I tank you… I mean, sir, um… I will be of service." Tara raised an eyebrow. This was an unexpected side of Kendra, awkward and shy. It was actually kind of amusing watching a girl who could snap Xander in half struggling to talk to him.

"Great! Good. It's good to be a giver." Xander said, unsure of how to respond.

"Xander, this assassin you encountered, what did he look like?" Giles asked, bringing them back to the task at hand. Before Xander could answer Cordelia found a worm left over from the attack at Buffy's house and tossed it down on the book she had opened.

"Oh! Oh! Oh my god! I'm showering!" She ran off to scour herself in the girl's locker room.

Xander pointed at the worm, unsurprised by Cordy's freak out. "Like that."

"You and bug people Xander. What's up with that?" Buffy asked. Tara remembered Willow telling her a story about a substitute teacher who had turned out be a giant insect.

"No, this dude was completely different than praying mantis lady. He was a man of bugs, not a man who was a bug." He closed the biology book, crushing the worm.

"The important thing is everybody's all right. Still it's quite apparent that we're under serious attack." Giles reminded them.

"These Taraka are definitely serious." Buffy agreed. She looked at Kendra. She had new respect for her after seeing her fight the gunman. "Fortunately for me, so is Kendra."

"And I fear the worst is yet to come." Giles said gravely. "I've discovered the remaining keys to Drusilla's cure. The ritual requires the presence of her sire and it must take place in a church on the night of the new moon."

"But th-that's tonight." Tara said shakily.

"Exactly! And I'm sure the assassins were sent here to kill Buffy before she could put a stop to things." Giles said.

"They need Drusilla's sire. You mean the vamp that made her?" Buffy asked, her tone taking on new seriousness.

"Yes." The Watcher confirmed.

"Buffy, what is it?" Willow asked. There was some deep emotion running through her best friend she had never seen before.

"Angel. He's Drusilla's sire." Buffy explained. She hadn't revealed that information to the gang before, knowing that it would at the very least give Xander more reasons to dislike the souled vampire. She wasn't wrong.

"Man that guy got major neck in his day!" Willow smacked the dark haired boy for his mocking jab.

"Will this ritual kill him?" Buffy asked, knowing the likely answer. Magic was rarely pretty.

"Yes, I'm afraid it will." Giles said sadly.

"We need to find this church. We need to find where this ritual is gonna take place." The Slayer was in full on leadership mode.

"Agreed. We have to work quickly, we have five hours before sundown." Rupert said with a glance at the clock.

"Don't worry, Buffy. We'll save Angel." Willow reassured her. She, Tara, and even Cordelia felt he deserved as much help as they could give him with all the times he'd saved them. Xander still didn't trust him, but would go along with what Buffy wanted. Kendra had other ideas.

"Angel? But our priority is to stop Drusilla."

"Angel's our friend." Xander said. "Except I don't like him."

Buffy confronted the taller Slayer. "Look, you've got your priorities, and I've got mine. Right now they mesh. So are you gonna help me, or are you gonna get out of my way?"

Kendra just shrugged. "I'm with you."

"Good. 'Cause I've had it." Buffy asserted as she walked around the room. "Spike is going down. You can attack me, you can send assassins after me- that's fine. But nobody messes with my boyfriend."

…

A couple hours passed and it was getting close to closing time for Dawn's school. Tara knew she'd have to make good on her offer to take Dawn home for the evening. Willow was sad they'd be entering research mode without her, but was glad her crush and her best friend's little sister would be out of harm's way. Enough people had been hurt and traumatized for one day.

Dawn pretended to be mad at Buffy for pawning her off on someone else for the night, but Tara could sense beneath that she was worried for her sister. For all that the little brunette played at hating her, the witch knew Buffy was her hero and she was always scared of losing her.

Eileen was happy to have company, and had to calm down Dawn's excitement over meeting an even more experienced witch. Tara shook her head apologetically when her mother cast a disapproving look at her; Dawn just had a way of finding out things. She and Willow had both promised Buffy there would be absolutely no witchcraft lessons until she was much, much older, if ever.

Donald and Donny were thankfully not too concerned with Dawn's presence. Babysitting was a respectable enough use of Tara's time in her father's eyes. Tara had just finished making dinner when they got a phone call. Donald handed the phone over to her with a scowl.

"It's some girl named Willow."

"Oh, w-we're in a study group together." She put turned around and cupped her hand over the receiver. "Hello, Willow?"

"Tara, Kendra just came back from Willy's. He's leading Buffy to the church where they're going to kill Angel, and she said she has to go alone. I'm scared Tara, those assassins, it took her and Kendra just to drive off the one assassin, and they've got Spike and the bug guy too! She needs back up, and I don't want you to be in danger either but there's strength in numbers and you're such a good witch, so please…"

"I-I'll come Will," Tara said soothingly as she could with her own fear for Buffy's safety rising, "Where's the church?" Eileen and Donald both watched her, and once Willow was done giving her directions she put her hand over the receiver. "Um, Xander n-needs help with a big social studies project. He totally forgot when it was due and we might need to pull an all nighter. Is it okay if I go?"

"Yeah, that Xander, he needs all the help he can get with homework." Dawn added. Tara smiled at her gratefully, hoping she wouldn't feel too abandoned being left with her mother while she went to go help Dawn's big sister save the day.

"Fine. But you call if you're going to be out any later than ten." Donald said gruffly.

"Yes sir." Tara agreed. She made a quick trip to her room and stuffed a few easy to use on the fly spell components in her school bag. "I-I'll be careful." She said with a wave to Dawn and Eileen as she left.

…

Tara wasn't the only one who had brought supplies. Xander had a plan to take down Norman the worm man that relied on a large can of adhesive. Giles had brought a crossbow, and apparently Kendra had decided to stick to her fists and stakes after an incident with the bow's unfamiliar trigger mechanism. Tara kept making Willow practice the fire incantation she had used on Ampata so they could use it against the vampires.

"Just take my hand when we get them in our sights, okay?" Tara asked Willow looking into her green eyes. Willow didn't need extra encouragement. She'd take any excuse to take Tara's hand. _And if we're all safe tomorrow, then maybe it won't have to be for a spell. _Willow hoped.

They came into the abandoned church to find Spike arguing with Willy the snitch. Drusilla and Angel were tied together and pierced through the hands. Kendra somersaulted her way in and began fighting Spike. Giles sent a crossbow bolt through a vampire as Tara and Willow prepared their energy for the spell. Meanwhile Xander called out to Norman, who smiled slowly and followed him and Cordelia out the door.

The witches entwined their hands looking straight ahead at their target. "Ignis ignesco!" The heat seared them from the inside out, and both were left breathless as a large sphere of flame shot from their out stretched palms. It wasn't strong enough to incinerate the vampire completely, but he wasn't going to be biting anyone for a while. Willow looked at Tara, not having let go her hand. She was still panting and despite their touching fingers the redhead felt an urge to be nearer. Buffy's voice reminded her this wasn't the time or place. Not yet.

"Switch!" The senior Slayer told her brunette counterpart. Kendra traded opponents with her and Spike was now facing Buffy.

"I'd rather be fighting you anyway." The vampire said with a dark grin.

"Mutual." Buffy said, eager to settle things once and for all. They brawled for a while until Buffy knocked him away with a good blow. Spike saw Willy trying to sneak out and grabbed him, giving Buffy a chance to go to Angel. Drusilla called to her lover for help and Willy was spared as Spike rushed to her aid.

The braided assassin swung her arm blades, slicing Kendra's shirt.

"That's me favorite shirt!" Kendra exclaimed, showing more passion than she had ever let herself in battle. "That's me only shirt!"

Spike must have been fed up with the way the fight was going, because rather than joining back in the melee he picked up a torch and tossed it, igniting an inferno.

"Look out!" Giles called as the Scoobies scrambled back from the flames.

Tara held onto Willow, wishing she knew how to put out fires as well as she could make them. They watched as the bleached blonde vampire picked up his lover to carry her to safety.

"Sorry baby, got to go. Hope that was enough." He said leaving Angel to fall to the floor. Buffy crawled over to him. She wasn't going to let Spike get away that easily. She picked up the thurible and launched it at the organ. It fell down crushing the vampiric couple beneath its weight.

"I'm good." Buffy said, glad of her accurate shot. The church continued to collapse, and the gang could only look on as Buffy attended to the weakened Angel. Kendra charged through the fire to them.

"Let's get him out." She said helping Buffy get him to his feet.

…

Buffy saw Angel back to his apartment before coming to pick up Dawn, who Eileen assured her hadn't been a burden. Tara was still buzzed from the spell she'd cast with Willow, but exhausted at the same time. She crashed into sleep, and hours later was wrenched awake by the sound of deep coughing. She went to the bathroom to find her mother hunched over the sink, her father standing behind her.

"Mom?" She caught sight of the red color of the fluid coming from her mother. "Oh my god."

"We're going to the hospital." Donald declared, and in less than a minute the Maclays were on the road to Sunnydale General. Tara wanted to stay, but Eileen insisted that she not miss school. Donny and Tara shared a rare moment of connection, both wishing they didn't have to leave. The teen witch figured with career week winding down she'd be able to sneak out early to check in.

…

Willow had been trying to calm the fluttering in her stomach without much success for the whole morning. She wanted to start the conversation casually, and wait for a moment when she and Tara found themselves alone naturally. Other days such a moment always seemed to come, but for some reason today wasn't offering up one up. Tara was too preoccupied to notice the change in Willow, and around eleven she took a bathroom break that was a cover for her leaving school.

Willow was looking for her when she found Oz picking up a box of animal crackers from the vending machine. As much as she wanted to talk to Tara, she still had to square things with the brave boy.

"Oh hey." Oz said seeing her standing by him. "Animal cracker?" He offered.

"No thank you." Willow declined. "How's your arm?" His right arm was in a sling.

"Suddenly painless." Willow hadn't been expecting that. She was taken aback. "Must be that same thing your blonde friend did yesterday."

"Tara." She told Oz. "Yeah, she's… special. You can still play the guitar okay?"

"Well not well, but not worse." He opened the pack of crackers as they walked, Willow still keeping an eye for Tara.

"You know, I never really thanked you."

"Ooh, no, please don't." Oz protested. "I don't do thanks. I go all red, have to bail. It's not pretty."

"Well then, forget… that thing." Willow agreed. "Especially with the part where I kind of owe you my life."

"Oh, look! Monkey. And he has a little hat… and little pants." Oz was purposely trying to steer the conversation from going anywhere too serious. He knew his own feelings were already deeper than they should be from having only talked to the girl twice, and that he should be keeping it casual. He held up the cracker monkey for Willow.

"Yeah, I see."

"The monkey's the only cookie animal that gets to wear clothes. You know that?" An amused smile grew on Willow's face. Oz was kind of funny. "You have the sweetest smile I've ever seen."

Willow found her normal babbling mode of talking stalled. Boys didn't talk to her like that. Maybe Buffy had been right about him checking her out. It was a nice feeling, but it just reminded her that still hadn't talked to Tara. She and Oz chatted about nothing much at all as they walked, Willow glad about possibly making a new friend, but worried about where the other friend she had made this year had gotten to.

…

A message came over the hospital's PA system as Tara went to check in at the front desk.

"Code blue in ICU, paging Dr. Mehta. Repeat, code blue."

"I-I'm here to see my mother, Eileen Maclay." Tara told the receptionist. The woman typed in the name.

"It says your mother was transferred to room 8 in the ICU half an hour ago." She handed Tara a visitor's badge. "You'll have to buzz in with the nurse's desk there."

The girl sprinted to the unit, but it was a long ways away from the entrance. She was lucky enough to catch another family going through the ICU's doors when she got there. Donny and her father were standing outside room 8 when she arrived. Her brother's eyes were red and Donald's face looked like stone. She pushed past them to get into the room.

"Mom!"

"… time of death, 11:38 AM."

Tara felt herself being held back from her mother's bed by a nurse. She tried to reach out with magic to touch her mother's. But she was gone.


	10. The body

Author's Notes: The next few chapters are going to be the darkest part of the story, especially Chapter Twelve. But I promise things will get brighter, and the story will have a happy ending. Hang in there! As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.

Missocki: Things are going to be a little complicated, but Tara and Willow are going to end up together.

Boris Yeltsin: I am busy, but I haven't been busy enough to justify how slow I've been updating. Sorry.

slayer99: Chapter Nine was very close to canon, but this chapter marks a turning point and bigger and bigger changes will be coming.

Dirty Tube Socks: Aftermath below.

Chapter Ten: The Body

_Another time, another world…_

"… _there's things… thoughts and reactions I had that I couldn't… understand, or even try to explain to anyone else. Thoughts that made me feel like I was losing it… or like I was some kind of h-horrible person." _

"_Was it sudden?"_

"_What?"_

"_Your mother."_

"_No. … And yes. It's always sudden."_

…

The next few hours passed in a blur. Tara saw her father's lips moving forming words of anger at her and Donny for skipping school when they'd been told not to, and telling them that it hadn't done their mother any good anyway. She heard the words "pulmonary embolism" several times. The hospital staff was sympathetic to the Maclays, but they were just moving through their work days, completing their appointed rounds. Their comforts felt hollow to her. Her mother's body was away taken to the morgue, and without evidence of the death in front of her Tara had trouble believing that this was really happening. It was only once they were back in their house and Eileen wasn't there to greet her that it hit her full on. She locked herself in her room, and once she was alone her thoughts began to race.

In a way Tara had already begun to grieve before her mother's death. Eileen's weakness had prevented her from doing so many of the things they had enjoyed sharing. Horseback riding, dancing, long trips into the forest. Even gardening and cooking wore her out by the end. Piece by piece Eileen had been fading away. Tara had hoped and she'd prayed someday she'd be back to the woman she once was. But even if her body never recovered, Eileen's soul was still the strongest she'd ever known. Even if she never got back to her original strength, Tara had believed she'd survive. If she wasn't powerful enough to get through it, who was?

It was several hours before Tara brought her face out of her pillow where she had been sobbing. How was she going to survive her twentieth birthday without her mother? She went beneath her floorboards to pull out her grandmother's doll's eye crystal. The many smooth surfaces and familiar edges beneath her fingers brought her back to when both women had still been alive. Eileen had had her own mother and aunt to see her through her coming of age. Now Tara was the only woman left carrying their tainted bloodline. That would be a comfort if she knew for certain the curse would end with her, but there was always the chance Donny would have a daughter. That was a horrifying thought. Tara wasn't even brave enough to stand up to her brother on her own behalf, how could she protect her future niece from the abuse she and her mother had had to live through to control their powers?

As her fingers traced the facets of the crystal Tara became determined. It couldn't end like this. Eileen had always told her Wiccans couldn't use magic for selfish purposes, and she'd sworn that oath sincerely. But Tara needed her mother, and she didn't care about the laws of life and death if it meant living without her. Her mother hadn't deserved to die like this, and she had deserved better than the life fate had given her.

She heard her father slam his door shut. Tara had often wondered why Eileen had never thought of leaving Donald. Maybe when they were both young she had needed someone to watch out for her and keep her from losing control, but she was capable of doing it so well herself by the time Tara was born she could have made it by without him. As strong as her mother was, she had never had the self-confidence to try to get away, whether out of fear or some idea that this dysfunctional family was all the love she was worthy of. Tara had felt that way too for a long time, but these past months with Buffy, Xander, Giles and Willow had made her feel something new. She felt like she was worthwhile. When she saw herself through their eyes, she felt like maybe she was smart, capable and likeable. Her mother had made her feel that way too. But it was meaningful to her for people who weren't family, the good kind of family that loved you unconditional like a family is supposedly meant to, to look at her in a positive light. It gave her the confidence she had always been missing.

Right now that confidence was enabling her to get out her copy of _History of Witchcraft_ to look up what she'd need for her plan. She was going to bring back her mother and then run away together. The book didn't have any actual resurrection spells in it, but it made reference to specific texts that did. Between the Magic Box and Giles' private collection in the library there was bound to be a copy of at least one of them. The library; that was the key to the whole thing. She knew her mother had forbidden her from tapping into the energy of the Hellmouth, but now she was gone. If Tara had broken that one rule she could have saved Eileen sooner.

Her new self confidence didn't let Tara forget her own limitations though. She knew despite her recent progress at casting she likely wouldn't be able to pull off such an advanced spell on her own. Only one person could be what she needed right now, a woman who rivaled her mother in raw power. Willow.

…

Willow had had a rather anti-climactic day. Tara had vanished midday and all Willow's efforts to psyche herself up to tell Tara she liked her had gone out the window. Tomorrow was Friday, so she'd have a second chance, but the extra time was giving her anxieties. Her brain was way too good at formulating failure scenarios. There was a timid voice telling her to just wait and see if Tara approached her, but she knew that was the same stupid voice that had kept her waiting on Xander for years to no avail. _If I want anything to happen, I have to be willing to take the first step, _she thought. Any further thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking on her balcony door.

The redhead got up from her bed and saw Tara on the other side of the glass. For a brief second she wondered if this was the universe telling her waiting could work out for her, but then she got close enough to see her friend's face. Her eyes were reddened and her cheeks were still moist. Willow opened the door with haste, ushering Tara inside. The blonde's normal shyness about touching was absent as she took the smaller girls arms in her hands.

"Tara?"

"You have to help me Willow."

There was something in Tara's voice that startled her. There was none of her usual hesitancy, just raw emotion.

"O-of course, anything." Willow said, stroking the back of Tara's hands. The contact with the older witch's magic felt sharper than normal, like an electric shock. They grew closer and Willow could see the salty build up from the hours of tears on Tara's cheeks. "Tara, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Tara swallowed heavily. It was her first time speaking the words.

"My mom died."

A coldness rose up in Willow. "Oh my god…" She brought one hand up to cover her mouth. For a moment she just stood there, the shock of the tragic news sinking in. Then her heart reminded her that her pain was nothing compared to the girl in front of hers. Willow led them to the edge of her bed to sit down. "What-what do you need me to do?"

Tara was about to tell her about the spell, but when she looked at Willow so full of empathy and concern, so honest in her desire to help she faltered.

…

_1987, Woodville Alabama, Maclay farm_

_Tara had watched as the vet took away the bag with Amalthea's body in it. It wasn't the first time an animal had died on the farm, but the nanny goat had been hers to look after. She been so proud to have been given the responsibility, and had been trying her hardest to be a good caretaker. Sure her mommy still watched her to make sure they were both safe, but Tara thought she was doing everything right. She didn't understand why it had happened. She had done everything the way her parents had taught her. Ammy shouldn't have died. It was all wrong._

_The little girl also didn't understand why her mommy wouldn't help put Amalthea back._

"_But if w-we make a big enough spell, we can make her m-move again." She said sniffling into her sleeve._

"_You can't go against nature dear. You can't just make someone who's died move again without it going wrong." Eileen told her daughter patiently._

"_But you fix th-things with magic all the time!" Tara protested. "If w-we were really, really careful we could make it work."_

"_Even if we could make it work sweetie, we can't use our magic to change life and death." She had explained this as well as she could to a child of Tara's age before, but it would be a long time before she could truly understand._

"_Why?"_

"_Because death is a part of life." Eileen said softly. "If things didn't die there were would never be any room for new things. Things have to die so new things can be born."_

"_But I l-like the old things." Tara pouted. "I love her momma. I don't want to replace her."_

_Her mother pulled her close and stroked the back of her head tenderly. "You won't replace her. You'll make a special place for her in your heart, and she'll always be a part of you."_

…

The girls just sat there staring into each other's eyes for several long minutes, Tara remembering what her mother had taught her about loss. Willow waited quietly for an answer to her question, but couldn't wait any more when fresh tears began to fall from her friend's blue eyes. "Tara please, what do you want me to do?"

Her throat was too choked to respond immediately, but when she felt Willow's hand gently wipe away the teardrops from her cheek she couldn't hold back anymore and brought the girl into a tight, desperate hug. The force of her sobs shook both their bodies. She knew she couldn't go through with the spell. It was against everything her mother had stood for, and violating her principles would be the worst thing she could do to her memory.

"Just hold me. Please." Tara whispered.

Willow wrapped her arms around the taller girl and rubbed her hand up and down Tara's back as she continued to cry. "Always."

They stayed like that for a long time before Tara pulled back to wipe her face. Willow assured her that she was welcome to stay as long as she needed to and gave her an extra pair of her pajamas to change into. The blonde spent a few minutes in front of the bathroom mirror just composing herself before returning to the bedroom. They got under the covers and Tara snuggled into Willow, silently asking to resume their embrace. Tara could tell her friend had been crying tears of her own, but was doing her best to put on a strong face and comfort her.

The sun had yet to rise when Tara woke up, still securely held in Willow's arms. She felt so warm and soft against her, and Tara couldn't remember being more comfortable. There were occasional nonsensical phrases being muttered under the slender girl's breath that she couldn't quite make out. The moment would have been perfect bliss for Tara if not for the circumstances that led to her being here. But she knew one thing for certain; Willow _had_ been the person she needed. Even if the other witch didn't feel the same attraction, Tara could tell that she was in a true sense, loved.

She allowed herself to enjoy the peace of their position until the first ray of sunlight began to illuminate the room. It brought her back to reality, the reality that she had snuck out of her house and stayed out all night without her father's knowledge. Last night her mad plan to bring back her mother and escape her father had seemed plausible, but with a cooler head she knew it wasn't feasible. They didn't have any money of their own, and no place to go. Tara didn't see how she could survive on her own if she ran away without finishing high school or having any marketable skills. She was trapped, at the very least for the next year and a half. And if she was going to get through it, she had to get back before her father noticed she was gone. She wished she didn't have to. Without her mother that house wasn't her home any more. A home was a place where you were with the people you love, and now she was in the bed of the one person left she loved. But she couldn't stay.

She reluctantly extricated herself from Willow, causing the other girl to grumble and stir. "Tare?" Green eyes looked around the room blearily. "It's early. Could you not sleep?"

"No, I did." Tara said quietly. "So well. But I have to get home before my father finds out."

Willow wasn't surprised she hadn't told Donald she was going out, but the thought of Tara going back to her family's house made her nervous. She didn't know exactly what went on behind closed doors, but she knew the blonde was scared of her father and brother. "Are you sure? If you don't feel safe, you know you can stay here."

Tara shook her head. "I-I don't want to impose on you and your parents." Willow opened her mouth to protest but Tara didn't let her. "But what you did for me last night, i-it meant so much to me. Thank you."

With a final surge of confidence, Tara leaned over and kissed Willow on the cheek before going to the bathroom to change back into her clothes. Willow touched the spot she'd been kissed and watched her crush slip out the door, still worried.

"Be safe…"

…

Donald was awake and downstairs when Tara tried to creep in through the front door. His anger from yesterday had cooled into a steely stoicism that unnerved his daughter even more.

"I'm not going to ask you where you've been, I know I won't get a straight answer." He said icily. "I had enough trouble with your brother last night. He came home drunk." Tara stood there silently, face coached into an expressionless mask. "I called the school to let them know where you'd run off to. They're giving you both the next week off." Donald waited until Tara nodded in acknowledgement to continue. "We are going to make arrangements for your mother this afternoon. We are going as a family, and you are both to do as I say. Is that clear Tara?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Good. I don't want you leaving this house until then."

Tara nodded again and went to their computer. She sent an e-mail to Willow telling her it was okay to tell their friends about her mother, but not to call her until tomorrow. She didn't want to incense her father further by having the phone tied up answering her friends' questions while he wanted them to be dealing with this as a family on their own.

Willow was sad Tara didn't want them talking to her, but having never lost a mom, she certainly wasn't in any position to tell her how to grieve. Buffy and Xander could tell right away something was wrong when they saw Willow, and when she explained what had happened she broke down and cried harder than she had let herself in front of Tara. The trio ended up in a three-way hug and spent the day avoiding the last day of Career Week and trying to figure what they could do for their friend.

…

Friday and Saturday were ordeals to get through. Tara just had to remind herself that if she endured until graduation, she could get away. Despite being in close contact the three Maclays spoke even less with each other than usual, Donny seeming to be determined to detach from reality and Tara acting numb to the world. Willow sent her an e-mail Saturday morning checking in and asking permission for the Slaying gang to come to the funeral. She agreed, touched that they would come to a service for a woman most of them had only met once or twice.

One advantage of living in Sunnydale was the speed and quality of funerary services. They were able to get a slot after the regular service at the church Donald attended. A wiry man was just finishing digging out the grave when they arrived at the cemetery. He watched the family as he left, giving them a solemn nod. Only a few members of the church congregation showed up, as well as some employees of the bank Donald managed. The Scoobies arrived and formed a cluster together. Willow and Xander had come alone, but Joyce and Dawn came with Buffy. The youngest Summers was especially distraught, having spent the evening with Eileen just before her death. Xander was dressed up and for some reason had bandages wrapped around one hand. Giles was more composed than the others, and Tara just assumed it was because he had been around death for the longest. She didn't know about the promise he had made on Thanksgiving, and that he was now considering how to fulfill it.

Tara stood and tried not to show her pain as a holy man of a religion her mother hadn't followed spoke words about an afterlife she didn't believe in. She didn't begrudge the other mourners their beliefs and prayers, but it wasn't how Eileen would have wanted to go. She kept looking back to her friends, taking solace in that they knew what kind of woman her mother had been. Once the service was finished she went over to them, receiving hugs from each of them in turn, Dawn holding on the longest. They gave her condolences and words of affection, and the frustration of the funeral lessened slightly. Joyce and Giles went to talk with other adults, leaving Dawn and the teenagers to talk amongst themselves.

"Cordelia's here. With her parents." Buffy said looking over to where Donald was talking to an immaculately dressed couple a yard away from the cheerleader. "Didn't see that coming."

Tara had been too focused on other things to notice the Chases arriving. She vaguely knew they had a business relationship with her father and were one of the wealthiest families in town. She hadn't expected them to show up at the funeral. Cordelia was standing with her arms held tightly to her chest uncomfortably, a stance that reminded Tara of herself when she was somewhere she felt out of place. The brunette met her gaze and gave her a sincere look of sympathy. Cordy seemed about to walk over to join them, but her eyes met Xander's and she stopped.

The gang made an invitation to Tara to spend the rest of the day with them, since even Xander could tell Tara didn't want to stay with her father and brother. They spent the evening at the Summers house, watching bad television and alternating between talking about Eileen and nothing at all.

…

On Monday morning Tara surprised them all by coming to class. Buffy and Willow walked alongside her as they went to their lockers to get ready.

"Didn't they give you the week off?" Buffy asked, "I'd want to be gone for a lot longer if it was me."

The blonde witch shook her head. "I-I'd rather be here. If I stayed in that house any longer, I think I might lose it." She closed her locker door and sighed. She didn't want to explain that being with the Scoobies was the only thing that made going through this bearable, because that would be revealing just how much she couldn't stand the place she had to go to at the end of the day. That could lead to questions, and attempts at intervention, and her current plan was to just ride things out until she could get free. She didn't need to get her friends any more caught up in her problems than they already were.

Willow could relate to enjoying school more than home, but she wasn't satisfied with Tara's status. After the night they spent together, she had resolved to do whatever she could to help Tara through this. It was completely the wrong time to put her romantic feelings on her, Willow knew that. But that was all right. What Tara needed right now was a friend, and Willow was going to be the greatest friend she could. Anything else was just going to be further in the future, that was all.

The witches walked to class together, leaving Buffy to attend to her own locker activities. She felt someone approach her and turned to see it was Cordelia.

"Hey." The Slayer said, unsure of what she wanted.

"Hey." Cordy repeated, eyes shifting between Buffy and the floor. "So, Mrs. Maclay…"

"Yeah." Buffy said lamely. She still didn't know how quite to talk about this sort of thing despite all the deaths she was connected to in some way. "It's weird. Like, you get so used to people around here dying from monsters and curses you forget that they die from normal things too."

"You don't really forget," Cordelia disagreed. "But even guys like Daryl who die the normal way end up being brought back as Frankensteins or zombies." She sighed in exasperation. "This town is so screwed up."

Buffy bit back the urge to tell her that Frankenstein was the doctor, not the monster, something Giles and Willow had made sure she was aware of after the whole Daryl incident.

"You going to talk to Tara? You didn't say anything at the funeral." The blonde said, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"I guess, but I don't really know her that well, you know?" Cordy said with a shrug. "And I don't want to be one of those people who comes around with some fatty casserole and says 'Sorry for your loss'. I mean yeah, you're sorry, lot of good that does right?" Her eyes went back to the floor for a second before she made eye contact again. "I know after Daryl died I wanted people to listen, not say things to me. And I know she'd rather talk to one of you guys than me."

Buffy could swear she almost sounded envious of them. Over the rest of the day the Slayer's thoughts moved from Tara and her mother to thoughts of her own mother. Seeing two people who loved each other separated permanently had sparked something in her. She found Tara after their last class and asked to speak to her alone. They ended up in the same classroom Tara had asked to join the Scoobies in those months ago.

"W-what did you want to talk about?" Tara assumed it was another check in on her emotional state and an offer of help. She had certainly gotten plenty of those from Willow today.

"What happened with you and your mom, it's made me do a lot of thinking." Buffy began. "About, how life can end, and people can lose their chance to say things to each other." Tara nodded. "And I've been thinking a lot about my mother, and all the things that I won't have said to her if we… get separated."

"You're scared she'll die before you can say them." Tara said, but Buffy shook her head.

"It's not her I'm worried about, it's me." Buffy looked down, lips pressing into a tighter frown. "I just think about what would have happened if Xander hadn't brought me back last year. They would have had to bring her my drowned body, and she'd have no idea why it happened. Dawn, she knows what I am, and I know how badly it would hurt her if I died, but my mom, she doesn't even know what I have to do at night. I could end up being a second too slow stabbing a demon, it could all be over and I just…" She took a deep breath and looked up at Tara, feeling guilty for dumping her own issues on her so soon after her tragedy. "I want to tell her what I am. I don't want to die slaying and have her not know why."

"You'd really want to tell her?" Tara asked. "Have you told Mr. Giles?"

"No, and I know he'd tell me I shouldn't, but I can't keep lying to her and sneaking off like this. Keeping secrets, putting myself in danger she doesn't know about, I just can't. I don't care about the whole secret identity thing, leave that to Spider-man or whoever."

"I-I get it. If you feel that strongly, then you should." The taller blonde said understandingly. "We'll all be right behind you."

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help me." Tara's brows knitted in confusion. "I need to convince her that I'm telling her the truth so she doesn't think I'm crazy. If you come with me then I can show her that the supernatural is for real."

"Like, cast a s-spell in front of her?" The witch asked nervously.

"Just one of your twinkly lights or something. It's totally okay if you don't want to just… It would be a big help."

Tara suspected Buffy wanted moral support as well as magical support, but was reluctant to admit it to her. When she didn't respond quickly Buffy began to worry she had asked too much.

"I know, I know, this is a really bad time to be asking you. Just, forget I said anything…"

"N-no, I'll do it." Tara interrupted. She'd much rather spend the evening with the Summers than face Donny's surliness and her father's cold rage. "When would you want to? T-tonight?"

"Sure, if you're cool with it." Buffy said, surprised but relieved.

…

Joyce invited Tara in not long after Dawn had retired to her room for the night. Buffy greeted her and turned to her mother.

"Um, mom, there's something I want to talk to you about. Tara's, here to help me explain, because, it kind of involves her too." She looked to Tara who gave her a slight nod. Buffy took a breath and gestured to the couch. "Could we sit down?"

"All right." The three women went into the living room and Joyce took the chair so the teens could sit on the couch. She looked between the younger blondes in concern. "Are you in some kind of trouble Buffy?"

"Uh, no." Buffy hedged. She wasn't in any active trouble at the least. "It's just, there's something I need to tell you about me. I've been hiding it for a long time, because I was afraid of how you'd react." Joyce's expression softened. "But after what happened with Tara's mom, I realized I don't want to keep secrets from you anymore." The Slayer looked at Tara again, who gave her a small supportive smile. Before Buffy could finish Joyce interjected.

"I have a feeling I know what you're going to tell me." She said smiling kindly.

"You do?" Buffy said, eyebrows shooting up in alarm. Her mother was being oddly calm if she had really figured it out. "And, you're cool with it?"

Joyce nodded. "I understand why you've been scared to tell me, and it was very sweet of Tara to come with you." Buffy was confused. This was going very differently than she had pictured. "I mean, I'm kind of surprised, because you like going after cute boys so much. But I want you to know who ever you love, I will always love you."

Tara felt a laugh bubbling up inside of her, and it almost escaped her before she remembered she wasn't supposed to be laughing yet. _I guess she misinterpreted all those looks we were giving each other. _Tara thought amused. Buffy's jaw was hanging open in shock.

"What? Mom, that's not… we're not gay." Buffy said flailing.

"Actually, I'm…" Tara trailed off. Given Mrs. Summers reaction she felt she might as well add her to the list of people she was out to.

"Well, Tara's gay, but we don't… gay, together…" Buffy's hand gestures were getting odder, not sure how the conversation had gone in this direction. She waved, eager to get back to the subject she was meant to be addressing. Joyce's smile had been replaced by a confused frown. "… that's not what I wanted to talk about."

"Then what is?" Her mother asked.

"Do you remember those freaky looking people who attacked the school during the parent teacher conference?" Joyce nodded, her frown deepening. "They weren't on PCP. They were vampires. And I slay them."

Joyce heaved a deep sigh. "Oh Buffy… vampires? I thought we were past this…"

Tara could feel a burst of anger from Buffy's spirit. "I knew you wouldn't understand."

"Understand what Buffy, that you're acting like horror movie creatures are real again? How am I supposed to react?" Mrs. Summers said, her voice raising.

"You could try listening to me before you throw me in a mental hospital like you did last time." A tear fell from the Slayer's right eye. "When Dawn showed you my diary, you and dad didn't even give me a chance to explain before you called the doctors. Why do think I've waited so long to tell you?"

Tara nearly gasped. She had never questioned Buffy's decision to keep her powers hidden from her mother, but she didn't know she'd been hospitalized. Of course she wouldn't have wanted to tell Joyce if her parent's response the first time had been to institutionalize her.

"Buffy, you need help." Joyce said pleadingly.

"I'm not crazy!" Buffy shouted. "That's why I brought Tara here. To prove to you that those things I wrote about are real."

"S-she's telling the truth." Tara said shakily, the older woman's attention having turned to her. "Buffy's a vampire Slayer. We all help her. I-I help her because I'm… I'm a witch."

"A witch?" Joyce asked, sounding overwhelmed. Tara chanted, a blue orb of light forming in front of her. She moved it around the room slowly before letting it settle into a slow orbit around her head. Mrs. Summers reached out to touch it tentatively. The woman gasped a little at its warmth. She flopped back into the chair, putting a hand to her forehead. "I… this is a lot to take in." She paused before looking back at Tara. "Could you give us a few minutes alone?"

"O-of course." Tara got up and went to the kitchen. She tried not to listen in on the conversation, but the Summers women had voices that carried well.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, have you tried not being a vampire Slayer? It's because you didn't have a strong father figure, isn't it?"

"It's just fate mom. I'm the Slayer. Accept it."

"Well, I can't just accept that! This is insane."

"Open your eyes mom. What do you think has been going on for the past two years? The fights, the weird occurrences? How many times have you washed blood out of my clothing and you still haven't figured it out?"

"Well, it stops now!"

"No, it doesn't stop! It never stops! Do… do you think I chose to be like this? Do you have any idea how lonely it is? How dangerous? I would love to be upstairs watching TV, or gossiping about boys, or… God, even studying! But I have to do this, or people die."

The argument went on for a while longer until Tara heard Joyce going up the stairs. She peeked her head into the living room and saw Buffy hanging her head in her hands. Tara tentatively took a seat beside her friend.

"I-I'm sorry." Tara said.

"Don't be. She at least calmed down enough not to call the hospital this time." The Slayer looked at the staircase. "She wants to talk to Giles. Maybe he'll have more luck getting her to accept it. Not that I was much better when I got told." Buffy chuckled ruefully. "Thank you. And sorry about outing you like that."

"I-it's fine. I mean, she's okay with it, so I don't really mind her knowing." Tara assured her.

"I'm sure she'd be happier if I was just gay." Buffy said with a slight groan. She looked at Tara contemplatively for a moment. "Did it suck that much when you, came out?"

"My mom had about your mom's reaction when I told her. The um, first good one when she thought we were going out, not the bad Slayer one." Tara fidgeted before admitting more. She felt like opening up to Buffy after learning something private about the Slayer tonight. "My father… he was really angry at first. But as long as I kept it to myself he kind of let it go."

"I'm sorry." Buffy said. "I know you're not really comfortable at home right now, and I'd offer to let you stay here, but with the shit storm my whole slaying confession just kicked up I don't know that our place would be much better."

_It would, _Tara thought darkly. Even in the midst of Buffy and Joyce's fight, the Summers felt more like a family than hers. It would be better to wait for things to cool down before any overnight visit though. "That's okay. Willow's told me I can stay with her if I need to. But thank you."

"That's good."

"I hope you guys are going to be okay." Tara said, unsure if she should leave Buffy alone with things still so tense between her and her mom.

"I hope so too." Buffy said with a sigh. "She did say she's been keeping something to herself too. Dawn's been saying for a couple of weeks now that she's got a new boyfriend because she bought a bunch of new clothes and she's been wearing a lot more make up. Maybe the kid's onto something."

"Could be." Mention of Mrs. Summers dating reminded Tara of something she hadn't heard discussed. "Did you tell her about Angel?" Tara asked. That was one of the most complicated things that had arisen from Buffy's life as the chosen one.

"No. I figure I can tell her I'm dating a cradle-robbing creature of the night after she's had time to process the Slayer thing. Like, maybe in ten years."

Tara was past her curfew getting back to her house, but she didn't care. Tonight, she had been useful to someone. She had always tried to useful to her mother. She still had regrets about not doing more sooner, but all she could do was live her life the way her mother had always taught her to.

…

Author's (Other) Notes: Progress updates will posted on my tumblr, phoenixgau . tumblr .com Please poke and prod me if I'm slow, it reminds me to keep up.


	11. Sleeves

Author's Notes: So I said I wouldn't dip into Jenny as a view point character, but I think the last scene works better from her perspective. I imagine I'm going to get some hate from Chapter Twelve, but it's going up soon.

boris yeltsin: If you ever want to message me but don't know how to send an ask on tumblr, just send me a PM here. I'm good on ideas for now; I have the story plotted out through the start of Season Three. If I get stuck then I'll be happy to take suggestions. And as always, tell me if there any scenes from the original Season Two that you don't want left out.

Dirty Tube Socks: That's actually something I've always wanted to do as a one shot, as kind of a back-story to why Tara was so insistent to Dawn not to bring back Joyce. I'll see about getting to it once I'm done with this story. I'll take wanting to watch Season Two as a compliment. :D

Chapter Eleven: Sleeves

Donald _was_ angry at Tara for staying out late, but Donny was back even later and managed to distract their father with a shouting match. Part of Tara's obedience to her father had come from fear of repercussions for her mother, who she knew did her best to shield her from the worst of his temper. Now that Eileen was gone Tara found herself caring less about being a dutiful daughter. She was still intimidated by Donald, but now that there was a finite amount of time left she had to deal with him she didn't care so much about staying on his good side. Nothing had ever satisfied him enough to make him stop his behavior before, so pushing his patience a little further didn't bother her. That Donny's worse misbehavior was drawing his focus made her feel more confident about pushing boundaries as well.

If Tara had been more self-aware she would have realized her lax attitude towards her father was part of her grief over her mother, and not the wisest course of action. Looking back on this time in her life later she would recognize that, but her mind was still cloudy at the moment.

Things were quiet on the Hellmouth since Spike and Drusilla had been taken care of, so there weren't any Scooby activities to attend to after school. Tara made a trip to Eileen's grave and to her surprise found a black rose left on it. Beneath the flower was an exquisite pencil sketch of Eileen's garden. Tara couldn't think of who she knew that would have left those offerings, but it felt like a gesture of mourning, not anything ominous. She knew black roses were bred artificially, so she could probably have Willow trace who had bought it if she needed to. If it was just a kind gesture, it was a very touching one.

…

While Tara was visiting the cemetery Joyce had her much needed discussion with Giles about her oldest daughter's secret life. Willow stayed in the library to give Buffy some emotional back up while the adults talked. She had offered to come with Tara, but Tara had told her that she wanted some time alone at the grave, and that Buffy definitely needed her best friend with her for this ordeal. The redhead had a nagging worry that she had been smothering Tara since she'd been back in school. It was hard for her figure out just what level of closeness the older witch wanted from her right now. Willow had been happy to hold Tara in her arms for a night, but since the blonde had run out the next morning she'd been more restrained with asking for attention. She'd be more annoyed with the hot and cold treatment if she wasn't so concerned for her.

Joyce's expression was one of sympathy as she came over to the girls after finishing her talk with Giles.

"Buffy, I just wanted to start by saying I'm sorry you've been going through this in secret. I had no idea how much you've been dealing with all by yourself."

"I'm not completely by myself." Buffy said, looking at the Watcher as he fiddled with the index cards.

"Right. You've got, Mr. Giles watching you." Joyce shook her head, frustrated. "Maybe I'm supposed to be grateful that there's this whole organization dedicated to looking after you, but that they've been keeping this from me, your mother…" She sighed. "It just makes me angry, that he's had this whole secret relationship with you, behind my back. And it makes me feel disrespected that he didn't think I deserved a say in what happens to my little girl."

Buffy's body loosened, coming back to the empathy for her mother that had pushed her to confess about being the Slayer in the first place. Now that the Summers had cooler heads she could see her mother's reaction had come from a place of caring, not anger.

"Believe me, Giles is a lot better to have around than some other Watcher could be." Buffy said wearily. "There's another Slayer, Kendra. Her parents gave her to her Watcher before she was old enough to remember their faces. She doesn't even have her own last name."

Joyce's frown deepened. "That doesn't make it right." She turned her gaze on Willow. "And you kids help her. Do any of your parents know about this?"

Willow squirmed a bit. She could only imagine how her mother would react if she found out she spent her free time making a database of demons and dabbling in witchcraft. "Um, not mine or Xander's, but neither us of really talk with our parents about our extracurricular activities much anyway. They don't show much interest. Or our curricular activities come to think of it."

"Will…" Buffy said warningly. Willow shook her head to get her brain back on topic.

"So um, not my parents. But Tara's mom, she… she knew. She was a witch, a-and she was teaching both of us…" She found herself sniffling as she spoke about the recently departed Mrs. Maclay. Buffy took Willow's hand and circled its back with gentle pressure from her thumb. Willow gave her a small, sad smile before meeting Mrs. Summers' eyes again.

"Witches…" Joyce shook her head again. "I still can't quite wrap my head around that. It's hard enough believing there are vampires out there." Her brow furrowed for a second before a startled expression came over her. "Oh my goodness, that didn't have anything to do with how Eileen died, did it?"

"Oh no, that was a complication from her cancer treatment." Willow said in a high pitched rush. She took a minute to calm her heart rate. She'd been so focused on Tara's feelings about the death she hadn't really taken the time to deal with her own. Joyce came closer and took her other hand, and the Summers silently comforted Willow until her breathing returned to normal. A few tears did manage to drip their way out against her will.

"She really was a quite a woman, wasn't she?" Joyce said softly.

"She was." Willow agreed.

"If you don't mind, would you and Tara tell me more about this… magic you do?" Mrs. Summers asked still holding Willow's hand. "This is all new to me, and it would help ease my mind to know what you're all up to. Just, to know that you're being safe."

"I, sure. I'll call Tara when she gets home."

…

After returning to Revello Drive Joyce brought both of her daughters to the living room to talk about how long Dawn had known about Buffy's identity. She had been to first one to read Buffy's diary, and unlike Hank and Joyce she had believed. She had mostly kept her mouth shut to seem cool to her sister and her friends, but part of her was also worried that if anyone found out Buffy would get sent away again. Her mother was somewhat angry with her, but being the baby of the family the anger directed at her was far less that had been leveled on the eldest child last night.

Dawn's theory about the change in their mother's behavior was confirmed as well. She confessed she was dating someone new, a computer component salesman named Ted Buchanan. She apologized for not telling them sooner, and told them she'd introduce him to the girls on Thursday evening. Neither of the sisters was thrilled. Both of them were still holding onto the slim hope that their father would get back together with their mother someday, though Buffy at least knew her hope was doomed.

The sisters decided to go upstairs to talk about this new development while Joyce talked to Tara and Willow. Neither of them was quite sure what she was going to ask them, but now that things were out in the open with Mrs. Summers they were going to do their best to fill her in.

"So, you girls are both witches?" Joyce began tentatively.

"Kind of. It takes years to become a full fledged witch, and I'm not quite there yet." Willow replied. "I've just done little things, like floating feathers and mixing potions. Tara's a lot more advanced than me because she's been practicing her whole life."

"I-I'm not that advanced, really." Tara said with a blush. "The women in my family have… w-we're born with a lot of magic potential. My mother taught me how to control my powers and h-how to work with nature, not against it."

"So you're kind of like, the medicine women from tribal cultures?" Joyce questioned. "Or is that not a good comparison?"

"Well, there a lot of ways to do magic. Th-the way my mom taught me is based around Wicca and natural cycles. But basically it's just moving and shaping the energy of the universe into new forms, to cr-create something, transform it, or connect to it from far away." The older woman still looked confused. "S-sorry. I don't know if I'm explaining this right."

"It's not your fault, this all just out of my realm of experience." Joyce said apologetically. "What I really wanted to know is what kind of things you do when you're going out to hunt monsters with Buffy."

"We make her protection charms." Willow offered. "And we made little flames to throw at the vampires last week." She wished for the umpteenth time her mouth didn't work faster than her judgment. Joyce couldn't be too pleased to learn Buffy's friends went around conjuring fires when arson was what had gotten her kicked out of her last school.

"Oh. What about those little lights? Have they ever come in handy?"

"The first time I met Buffy, actually." Tara said. She decided to use this as an opening to explain her motivations for helping Buffy. "I was being attacked b-by vampires, and she saved me. Another one was about to get her from behind and I sent the lights into his eyes to blind him." She could see Joyce's distress from hearing about her daughter being in danger. "That's why I wanted to h-help her. She does so much good, and saves so many people."

"She's saved me and Xander more times than I count." Willow added. "Well, actually I could but I've never sat down and gone through them all, but it's a big number. She's kind of a superhero, really. You should be proud of her."

"Mr. Giles told me that too. Knowing that she's saved your lives, of course that makes me proud, but I hate that any of you have had your lives in danger in the first place. It's not fair that you all have to take this on before you're even grown up, it's too much." Mrs. Summers said in an impassioned voice. "I understand now that Buffy can't help what she is, but I still don't like it."

"She wishes she could be normal too." Tara said softly.

"I know." Joyce paused, her face softening. "I am grateful to both of you, and Xander. Just please, don't take on more than you can handle."

…

Willow had been purposely not bringing up the subject of when she and Tara would resume their regular spell lessons, figuring that could be anywhere from weeks to months. It turned out to be Tara who brought it up. Between her impulse to cast the resurrection spell and her meetings with Joyce, the senior witch had been spending a lot of time considering what her future as a witch would be. The first conclusion she came to was that it would just be tempting fate to keep practicing at her house. Since she'd started teaching Willow, she hadn't even been casting on her own, so there wasn't a reason for her to keep her hidden stash in her room anymore.

They stopped by the Maclay house on Wednesday afternoon to pack Tara's things up before Donald got home from work. Willow bit her lip when she found herself about to suggest Tara pack some things for an overnight visit. Once they got to Willow's room they spent hours talking about the history and uses of all the different books, herbs and artifacts. Willow caught Tara checking the clock and felt the urge to ask her to stay rise up again. She did her best to suppress it.

Tara noticed the redhead shuffling her feet. She knew Willow's moods well enough she could tell what was bothering her. The hacker had offered to let her stay over if she needed to several times already since their first sleepover, and at some point she had gotten the idea that she was making a pest of herself to Tara. Tara didn't mind of course, but Willow was always very concerned with not doing anything to upset her. She hoped she wasn't overly sensitive; she couldn't think of any signals she was giving to her friend that would indicate she was annoyed with her, but Willow didn't really have the greatest self esteem when it came to interpersonal relationships.

"I know what you want to ask Willow." The girl's green eyes widened in alarm. _Ohmygod ohmygod, she didn't figure out that I want to ask her out did she? Oh damn, I know that look. The "Sorry, but I don't feel that way about you look." Hold on brain, Tara's still talking. We need to listen… no no no, I don't want to hear it… oh god, why did I ever think she would say yes? _Willow only heard the second half of Tara's words.

"… and Donny's already got him mad enough… so I was thinking I could save my long nights out for when there's Scoobyage afoot. I wish I could though."

"Huh?" What was she talking about? That Tara's dad would get mad at her for going out with her? But she wanted to? 

"Stay over tonight." Tara, a little surprised at the flurry of emotions Willow's aura was rushing through at something as simple as turning down a sleepover. The younger girl's panic turned to embarrassment. _The other thing I wanted to ask her, right. Stupid Willow._ She chided herself.

"Oh." She said calmly, before getting disappointed for a new reason. "Are you sure? You really think your dad would get mad at you just for staying over at a friend's?"

"I'm not sure, I mean, before you I'd never spent the night with anyone." The statement hung in the air, turning the normal flow between the girls awkward. Something was being left unsaid, but neither was ready to confront it right now. "But I-I don't want to give him more reasons to be angry if I can help it."

"Well, I don't want to get you in any trouble. Just… I know you don't like being around them. If you need, ya know, a safe space." She hung her head for a second before throwing it back with a sigh. "And there I go again, be pesky girl."

Tara gave her a sad smile. "I'd love to stay the night." _I'd love to stay forever. _"I promise I'll come over more often once things have… settled a little." That seemed to reassure Willow, but Tara wanted her to know that she didn't find her pesky. She took Willow's hands in hers, leaned over and kissed the opposite cheek from the one she had last time. She didn't really mean for it to, but this kiss lingered a moment longer than the previous one. Tara was more conscious of the taste and texture of Willow's freckled skin, and had to stop herself from going back for a second helping. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked as she pulled away to head for the door, praying she hadn't freaked out her friend and student. If her reaction to the last kiss was any indication, Willow wouldn't mind. Tara wasn't disappointed.

Willow didn't let go of Tara's hand until their arms were stretched as far as they would go. "Okay." She said softly.

She did her best to lose herself in her computer, trying to push thoughts of Tara's tender lips out of her head. It half worked, until she overheard her parents talking at a volume she'd normally grumble about for interrupting her studying. Tonight however, she found the sound comforting. It reminded her that she still had both parents. Like Buffy, Willow had been worrying about her relationship with her mother after Eileen's death. While she didn't want to come right out and say she practiced the dark arts, she did feel like she could make more of an effort to spend time with them. It had been years since she'd bothered, and she was braver now. At least she could try.

"Hey mom?" She asked the older redhead, having come downstairs to talk to her. "Do you think we could do something on Saturday? Like, together?"

…

Sheila did agree, and Willow hoped things would go as well for Buffy and her mother. She, Tara and Xander were all going along with Buffy to meet this famous Ted after an evening at the Bronze. Things ended up being slightly awkward. They were home earlier than Joyce had been expecting and Buffy walked in on them kissing, much to the Slayer's disgust. Dawn was already enamored with her mother's new boyfriend. He had made mini-pizzas and started a new batch for the teenagers, though Buffy and Tara declined. Although she was coping in other ways, Tara's appetite hadn't been great lately and she just nursed a glass of water.

Buffy was very obviously not warming up to Ted. Tara didn't really sense anything one way or the other about him, but he seemed polite and nice enough. She was more perplexed by Willow and Dawn's behavior. They were giggling and acting somewhat hyper, the total opposite of the gloominess both girls had been under since the funeral.

…

The next morning at school Buffy wasn't willing to let her misgivings about Ted go, and Xander wasn't willing to let the magnificence of his culinary skills go either. Willow agreed with the boy's opinion that Buffy was just upset because someone who wasn't her father was getting close to her mother. And Tara pointed out she couldn't be happy this was all happening while Joyce was still getting used to her oldest daughter being a Slayer. It was three against one, and Buffy partially relented.

"Okay, I admit it's weird. Seeing my mother frenching a guy is definitely a ticket to therapy-land, but it's more than that. I'm pretty good at sensing what's going on around me and there's definitely something wrong with this… Ted." She didn't even like to say the name.

"Ted!" Xander said, looking over Buffy's shoulder.

"Of course Ted. Who'd you think I was talking about?" Buffy grumbled.

"Hi Ted. Ted who's here." Xander repeated, not looking away from the man who had just walked up behind Buffy.

"Hello kids." Ted greeted them. Tara couldn't really agree with Buffy's assessment. The salesman seemed pretty innocuous to her.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked, tensing up.

"I'm updating the software in the guidance office. Which reminds me. Your upgrades." He handed over the hardware he had promised last night to Willow.

"Oh what a day! Thank you!" Tara had never heard Willow's voice go so high pitched and dreamy, though it had come close when she'd been gotten a new spell to work. She observed Willow far too often not to notice she was being a bit odd today, or rather hadn't stopped being odd since she'd started acting weird in the Summers' kitchen.

"Think nothing of it." Ted said kindly. "Buffy, do you like miniature golf?"

"Who doesn't?" Xander jumped in.

"Well your mother and I were thinking maybe this Saturday we'd drag the four of you and Dawn out to the course… spend time swinging the iron with the stuffy old people."

"Well…" Buffy was flustered. She knew her friends could use fun diversions with the grief they were still going through.

"I'm making a picnic basket." The salesman added, trying to sweeten the deal.

"With mini-pizzas?" Xander asked, voice trembling with excitement.

"And cookies." Ted confirmed. Xander could only gasp in delight.

"Oh, I can't make it." Willow said, looking at Buffy apologetically. "I already have plans with my mom."

"There you have it, Will can't come." Buffy said, trying not smirk in triumph. "The rest of us would love to go, but unfortunately we have that _thing_ on Saturday." She gave Tara a meaningful look.

"R-right. That thing." Tara agreed. Xander wasn't so amenable.

"Hey, we can do that thing anytime. I'm tired of doin' that thing. We're on."

"Great!"

Buffy groaned as Ted walked off to finish his work.

…

There were indeed cookies, and once again everyone happily indulged except the two teen blondes. Tara had never played mini-golf before, and it seemed it wasn't an activity that Slayer powers helped with. Buffy's first swing sent her ball out of the hole's little setup and Ted insisted she play through properly. Things were only getting worse between them, Ted making passive-aggressive comments about Buffy's suffering grades, and both her mother and little sister taking his side about the game. She went off after her ball and Ted followed. The Slayer looked disturbed when she came back to them. After Tara took her turn Buffy pulled her aside out of earshot of the others.

"There is definitely something wrong with him." Buffy whispered to her. "He just threatened to hit me over not taking putting seriously." She looked back at the adults, making sure they weren't being watched. "Can you look at his aura?"

"I-I can, but it's a very subjective impression. I don't know how much I could tell you from it." Tara focused on the man, and she had to refocus on Xander to make sure her power was working properly. As far as she could tell, it was. "Th-this has never happened before…"

"What's never happened?" Buffy asked.

"H-he… he doesn't have an aura."

"Like, he doesn't have a soul?" The shorter blonde said, looking something close to horrified. "So he's some kind of demon?"

Tara tried not to quake at the hatred in the Slayer's voice at the word demon. "N-no, demons have auras. This, I-I don't know what it is. There's just nothing there."

"Once we're done here, we're going into research mode."

…

The cavalry congregated at the library that evening. Buffy had decided to stay home to keep anything from happening to Dawn if she and Ted ended up alone after he and Joyce came back from their date. Giles was covering her patrol for the night, giving the teenagers the run of the library. Willow arrived last after visiting a museum and restaurant with her parents. Tara was almost surprised to find Cordelia had shown up as well. Almost, because it seemed the cheerleader had been sticking around to help them out more and more lately.

Tara checked through Giles' books for something that looked human but had no aura. She wasn't sure it would even be in any of the books. Willow was meanwhile looking up Ted's criminal records to see if he had committed any past misdeeds they should be worried about him repeating. Neither of their searches was bearing fruit, to the point that Xander had stopped his attempts at assisting Tara and was eating the cookies left over from the day's picnic.

"Ted's got no criminal record. Damn, this guy's like citizen of the year!" Willow exclaimed in frustration.

"Don't sweat it. It'll be fine." Xander said in an extremely mellow tone.

"Don't sweat it?" Willow asked annoyed at her friend's calmness.

"Yeah, cute buddy!" He ruffled her hair with his free hand. "We'll work it out. No worries!"

"What happened to 'we can't leave them alone with a soulless monster'?" Cordelia asked.

"Worrying isn't gonna to solve any problems." All three girls put two and two together as Xander munched. Willow grabbed the cookie from him mid-munch.

"It's the cooking; it makes people act all loopy. That's got to have something to do with what's wrong with him." Willow stood up. "I'm gonna go make a microscope slide from this."

"But you'll still have enough left for me to finish eating, right?" Xander asked as the redhead left for the science lab.

…

By the time Willow's slide was ready Tara had yet to find anything of use in the stacks. Cordelia was printing out copies of all the personal records Willow had been able to dig up on Ted, hoping they'd at least be able to find his address so they could check out his house.

"Okay…" Willow said, having somewhat identified the chemicals in the cookie.

"What do we know?" Xander asked eagerly.

"Well, apparently the secret ingredient is not love." Willow answered.

"But you know what it is?" Tara questioned nervously, worried about the quantity of Ted's food her friends had eaten.

"I'm not positive, but I think it's dematorin. It's like a tranquilizer. Keeps you all mellow and compliant. It also shares a few components with ecstasy."

"So Buffy was right! Ted's been drugging up Joyce to make her sweet on him. But you caught him. Willow, you are the best human ever. I adore you!" Willow smiled as Xander pointed at her to emphasize his praise. "That's the cookies talkin', but you rock!"

Cordelia returned with several folders full of papers. "Well, your search finally hit pay dirt. I got personal records, marriage certificates, and an address."

"H-He's with Joyce now, we could sneak in while he's out." Tara suggested.

"Right on." Xander agreed. "We've got to shut him down before someone gets hurt."

…

Xander punched through the window next the to front door to the reach the lock. They looked around with their flashlights while Willow looked over the records.

"So far I've found four marriage certificates." She said.

"Are there any records of him getting divorced?" Tara asked.

"Not a one."

"So either our boy was a Mormon, or…" Xander began before Willow interrupted him, startled.

"Whoa, whoa! 1957? Ted must have married young. Like, pre-school young."

"Nothing interesting back here." Cordy said rejoining them. "Doesn't look like anybody worked here let alone lived here."

"Something's missing here. This doesn't seem like Ted at all."

"Yeah," Cordelia agreed with Xander. "And this rug, it doesn't go with the rest of the décor."

Xander lifted up the rug and revealed a trap door. He went down the steps first then helped Cordy down. When he turned on the lights a record player started up, playing some classic Jazz.

"Feels like home… if it's the fifties and you're a psycho." Cordelia said checking out the retro furnishings of the room. Willow opened the blinds on the window to reveal nothing but bricks on the other side. Tara felt a sinking in her stomach when she reached the bottom step. Something here was very, very off. The room had a dark resonance that was similar to but not identical to the battlefields she had visited with her mother. She pushed through the sick feeling and tried to sense the direction the resonance was coming from. It seemed to be strongest from the closet. Xander followed her gaze and went to inspect it.

"What you got in the closet Ted?" He only looked inside for a second before shutting it suddenly. "Let's go."

"But we need to figure out what he is." Cordelia protested. Xander just kept urging the girls out.

"He's something to be slayed. That's all we need to know." He was so solemn it was beginning to freak Willow out.

"What's in there?" She asked.

"His first four wives."

…

It was a difficult slaying, but Ted wasn't the first killer robot Buffy had faced down. Xander and Cordelia returned to Ted's house to look for more answers while the others consoled Joyce.

"I just can't believe it." She said sitting between Buffy and Willow on the couch, Dawn on the floor in front of her and Tara in the chair. "He was a robot all along? But… he seemed so kind, and… human."

"It happens." Willow said sympathetically. "We've all been there. Last year my boyfriend turned out to be a demon that got uploaded into the school's computer network and then installed himself in a robot."

"And Xander was dating Ampata." Dawn offered. "She was a mummy." She added, seeing her mother didn't understand the significance. Joyce's level of shock went up slightly at the new information, but she was already near the upper limits what she could take in. "Do you think there's more than one of him? I mean, if they could make one why wouldn't they make more?"

"I hope not. One Stepford boyfriend was creepy enough." Buffy said.

…

Monday morning the gang discussed the info Xander and Cordy had uncovered on their second trip to the robot's lair.

"The sad part is, the real Ted must have been a genius." Willow said wistfully. "There were design features in that robot that predate…"

"Willow, tell me you didn't keep any parts." Buffy cut her off, sensing the hacker's admiration was more than what was healthy.

"Not any… big ones." She admitted.

"Oh, Will, you're supposed to use your powers for good." Buffy lamented. She turned to Tara. "She's a good witch, right?"

"She's a good witch." Tara agreed. "But she might be an evil scientist."

"Hey!" Willow shoved Tara playfully. She was actually glad of the teasing. Little by little, Tara's mood was brightening up. "I just want to learn stuff."

"Like how to build your own serial killer?" Cordelia said incredulous.

They were planning to hang out in the library, but after seeing Giles and Jenny kissing they decided it would be more prudent to give them some privacy.

…

It was the last day before Christmas break, and Jenny was finishing grading the final exam of the term. She was just completing the last one when Tara came into her classroom.

"Hey. Are you taking a break from monster research?" She asked the shy girl.

"Not a break exactly, since there's nothing to research right now." Tara answered. "Mr. Giles left some books here and sent me to get them."

"Oh I can take them to him. I was going to meet up with him once I was done here anyway." Miss Calendar said getting up from her desk. She picked up her coffee mug, which she had just refilled a couple of minutes ago to de-stress from grading Harmony's exam. "It's cute how you still call him Mr. Giles…" One of her shoes wobbled as she went around the desk and the hot liquid spilled out of the mug onto Tara's sweater. The blonde gasped in pain and Jenny set aside the mug to help her. Half the sleeve was soaked in the scalding drink, but the girl was making no motion to take off the sweater.

"Tara, I'm so sorry! We need to get that top off of you and put your arm under some cold water."

"N-no… I-I-I can t-take it off in the bathroom." She protested. Jenny was having none of that.

"Don't be silly, you'll be burned worse." The teacher was resistant to pull at the sweater without the girl's compliance, but she didn't want her to be hurt needlessly. "You have to take it off."

Tara was nearly whimpering from the pain, and reluctantly pulled off the offending garment. She crossed her arms over her chest, but she wasn't quick enough. Jenny saw the marks, neatly lining both her arms from the inside of her elbows to about three inches short of her wrists. They looked like burn marks, not much older than a day.

"Cold water Tara." She led the student to the nearest bathroom and watched as Tara ran her arm under the water, looking ashamed. "Do you need to go to a doctor?" Tara shook her head. That took care of the immediate problem. The pre-existing one however…

"Tara, what happened to your arms?" Jenny asked gently but firmly. She thought she could hear tiny sobs as the blue-eyed girl stared into the sink, arms wrapped around her so the scarred sides were hidden. The techno-pagan thought back, and realized she'd never seen Tara without long sleeves. The girl was so withdrawn and nervous unless she was with her friends, and even then she was the most quiet. It was no secret Tara wasn't on good terms with her father and brother. Then her mother had died only a few weeks ago… "Tara, did you hurt yourself?"

The witch shut her eyes tight and shook her head as tears began to fall. "No."

"Can you tell me who did?" Jenny asked cautiously. The evidence seemed to indicate this was a long ongoing trauma, not just something recent, however fresh the topmost burn marks were. Tara just stayed silent. "Was it your father?"

The sobs that had been small became larger until Tara's face was in her hands, her body hunched over the sink. Jenny let her cry for a minute before speaking again softly.

"There are people who can help you. You don't have to face this alone." Tara turned to stare at her in disbelief.

"I do." She pushed her way past Miss Calendar, who tried to call her back with no success.

Jenny went to see Rupert, who looked up at her in pleasant surprise. "Jenny. Did Tara come to your classroom? I sent her to fetch some…"

"I did see her Rupert." The dark haired woman interrupted. "She had burn marks on her arms. Lots of marks, intentional ones."

"Dear lord." She could see him fighting his neurotic urge to reach for his glasses and wipe them. "How…?"

"Her father." Jenny said, anger shaking in her voice. "We have to do something Rupert."


End file.
